Order-naries: Redux
by C. Theron Vulpin
Summary: The Order-naries are back in Equestria after two years and quickly find themselves embroiled in a disturbingly familiar adventure alongside some VERY disturbingly familiar faces.
1. Prologue: Scene from Another Tale

Two bowls of pumpkin soup sat on the table. One was nearly full and cooling in neglect while the other was being dutifully emptied a spoonful at a time by the pony it belonged to. The first bowl's owner watched her guest eat while thinking over the brief tale that had just been related to her. Finally, when the second bowl was nearly empty, she spoke, "I'll be honest Trixie, I'm surprised you came straight here."

Trixie Lulamoon bowed her head in acquiescence and said, "Yes, I suppose I should have brought this to Princess Luna, since she is my troupe's patron, but Ponyville was closer and I hoped you would know something." She looked around at all the books lining the walls meaningfully.

Twilight Sparkle shook her head. "That's not what I meant," she said. "I'm surprised you came here straight from Hoofington, through the Everfree Forest, right after losing a magic duel, and all you seem to be suffering is simple travel fatigue."

"I stayed close to the edge of the forest as much as possible," Trixie said by way of explanation, and then picked up her soup bowl to finish it off in one big slurp. "And as for Tremolo," she added when she was finished, "he was aiming to humiliate The Great and Powerful Trixie more than harm her. So, Sparkle, what do you think? Can you help?"

"I'll certainly try," Twilight said, summoning a couple of books over to her from the shelves. "You said he was wearing the Alicorn Amulet," she said as she opened the first book and gave Trixie a querulous look. "May I ask how it is you recognized that amulet? It's not one of those things you normally hear about unless you go looking, after all."

Trixie's ears drooped sheepishly and she became very interested in the pattern of her bowl. "Well," she said at last, "I did go looking for it briefly, sometime after the Ursa Minor incident when I was still seething with anger at you. The only reason I gave up on finding it was because I stumbled upon that gem that gave me control over earth and rocks first."

"I see," Twilight said, finding the page she was looking for. She set the book on the table, turned so Trixie could see the picture of the Alicorn Amulet and read the accompanying description. "Did your research into the amulet inform you how it corrupts the user?" Twilight asked. Trixie shook her head without taking her eyes off the page, her pupils steadily contracting as she read.

"It's magically locked, so only the wearer can remove it?" the showmare exclaimed when she neared the end. "Trixie does _not_ like the sound of that!"

"Yeah," Twilight said, going back to the bookshelves, "and convincing somepony to give up power like that won't be easy. You'll either have to appeal to Tremolo's better nature-"

"Yeah, right," Trixie snorted.

"-or you need to make him think that the Alicorn Amulet isn't as useful as he thinks," Twilight finished without missing a beat. She brought a few new books to the table and said, "Now, our best bet is to use spells he's not familiar with and that at least look Great and Powerful, so why don't we go through these spell books and see what you can learn."

Trixie held up a forestalling hoof, a sly look on her face. "If tricking Tremolo is the goal, then the Great and Powerful Trixie already has a plan in the making," she said. "All I really need is to get back into Hoofington and recruit some help from my troupe, and maybe a few other ponies."

"Are you sure?" Twilight asked, disappointed.

"Quite sure," Trixie said. "In fact, I should probably head back as soon as possible. You were most helpful Twilight, so thank you, and thank you for the food as well."

"Hold up a second," Twilight said with a sigh, "At least let me put together something for you to eat on the road. And once you've got the Alicorn Amulet off of Tremolo, could you bring it to me personally? I'll make sure it gets locked away where nopony else can get to it."

"Yes, Trixie can do that." She then realized that Twilight had all but forgotten her pumpkin soup and claimed the bowl for herself, casting a warming spell on it. "By the way," she said after a moment, "The Earth-controlling Emerald, it was part of a set wasn't it? Whatever happened to them?"

"They were destroyed," Twilight answered, getting a far-off look in her eyes. "It's for the best anyway; they were probably more dangerous than a whole box of Alicorn Amulets."


	2. Chapter 1: Familiar Beginnings

Twilight Sparkle stared, bleary-eyed, into the depths of a magically-charged crystal ball that stubbornly refused to show her what she desired it to. To the outside observer, the ball was clear, empty, and casting faint rainbows on the table that originated from a beam of sunlight streaming from a nearby window. To Twilight, it contained a shapeless darkness with vague hints of movement throughout. Fighting against frustration to maintain the detached focus her spell required, Twilight decided to double-check her calculations by changing the target.

_Princess Celestia_.

The darkness cleared instantly, revealing a scene of Equestria's beloved mistress of the Sun sitting down for a light lunch in the privacy of her royal suite. The princess started to levitate a watercress sandwich to her mouth, but then paused and looked straight at Twilight, smiling in faint amusement. Her horn glowed gold and the vision clouded over.

Twilight felt a flush of embarrassment at being caught so easily wash over her, and waited for it to pass before trying again.

_Pinkie Pie_.

Predictably, the scene that appeared was in Sugar Cube Corner, where Pinkie was entertaining the young Cake twins with all manner of strange movements and faces, which the infant unicorn and pegasus were eating up. None of them seemed to realize they were being watched from afar. It seemed the Pinkie Sense didn't include "somepony's scrying on me."

_It obviously works well enough _within_ Equestria_, Twilight thought, _and I managed to get a glimpse of another world at least once before. I think. It wasn't anyplace I recognized at least, which means it is possible to-_

The sound of gong rang through Twilight's thoughts and broke the spell, and then she brought her focus back to her real surroundings to the sound of Spike announcing, "Break time!" Twilight sighed, but didn't try to start the spell again or scold Spike for the interruption. The gong, which sat on the desk near the crystal ball, had been placed there by Twilight herself for the exact purpose of being used to break her out of a scrying trance after the space of an hour. "Thanks Spike," she said, backing away from the desk.

"No problem your highness," the baby dragon said with a slight teasing tone on the title. "Any luck this time?"

"No," Twilight said sadly, "and I'm starting to think this might be a dead end after all. I did catch a glimpse of Princess Celestia having lunch though. Is it lunch time now?"

"Yep," Spike said, "we were going to have it over at Rarity's today, remember?"

Twilight nodded, smiling both at the wistful look in her assistant's eyes and the thought of spending some casual time with a friend. Well, as casual as Rarity ever could be with an alicorn at her table.

As Twilight and Spike left the library and walked through town toward the Carousel Boutique, they did so with wariness and deliberation toward not attracting attention. Not that there was any trouble brewing in Ponyville, or that the newest Princess of Equestria was trying to hide the fact of her existence. The latter would have been absolute folly, considering how grand and public her coronation of nearly a year before had been and how prominent she had been in Ponyville even before she'd transcended her old understanding and capabilities in magic and become an alicorn. The problem was that despite her increase in power and status, Twilight was still essentially the same pony inside – more than willing to stand up and intervene if something particularly bad or crazy happened but not willing to stand judgment over some petty concern or problem that the other ponies were quite capable of resolving themselves, thank you very much! That majority of the towns-ponies understood and respected this fact, but there were a few exceptions.

Fortunately, Twilight and Spike reached their destination without being waylaid. Rarity was in high spirits as she invited the pair into her kitchen, on account of having received high praise for some of her latest designs through her Canterlot connections and a stream of orders that had come in as a consequence. "Oh yes, I am simply on Cloud Nine, darlings," she exulted. "Of course, I know I'll have had my fill of long nights before too long, but the payoff will be worth every minute. I've even received orders from the Crystal Empire, and Fleur de Lis herself. Oh, but don't let me hog all the conversation; how has your day been, Twilight? You've been busy, I presume."

"I have been trying to find or create a scrying spell that will let me see into other worlds," Twilight said, "but it hasn't been going well."

"Other worlds?" Rarity blinked in confusion. "Why on Equestria would you want to… Oh!" Her mouth dropped open into a little "O" when it dawned on her. "Ash," she said, "The Order-naries." Twilight simply nodded. "So you've started looking for a way to go to them again," Rarity said wistfully. "It's been almost two years Twilight; why the sudden desire to pick that research back up?"

"Because it _has_ been almost two years, Rarity," Twilight said. "They said they'd come back to visit us occasionally, but we haven't so much as heard from them in all this time."

"Do try not to worry so much," Rarity said soothingly. "They made a promise, and Ashen Blaze is a pony of his word."

"He's not even a pony though," Spike said, a dark cast coming over his features.

"Neither are you Spike," Rarity pointed out teasingly. "It could simply be that they haven't been able to find the time to get away from protecting Taryn from who knows what kind of problems."

"I'd hope that's the case," Twilight said, "but I'd feel a lot easier if I could at least see what they're up to."

A thunderous crack rolled through the air, rattling the dishes on the table and causing all three of them to jump with fright. As the echoes faded, Twilight and Rarity met each other's gaze and shared a slow, ironic smile. "Sounds like your wish has been granted, Twilight," Rarity said.

"Sounds like," Twilight agreed, getting up from the table. "Let's go make sure the town isn't in a panic over that noise and clear a landing strip for them to use." Rarity and Spike both nodded and made to follow the lavender alicorn, although Spike did so with some reluctance. The trio had only made it to the kitchen door, however, when a small object flew through the window over the sink and hit the table with enough force to reduce it to splinters.

* * *

Fluttershy had just finished lunch and was curling up on her couch to read when the thunderclap struck. She shot up nearly to the ceiling with a frightened squeak, and then flared her wings out to catch herself in the air as her brain caught up with her. There weren't any rainstorms planned for the day, and the sound hadn't been that of lightning from a kicked cloud which left, in Fluttershy's mind, only one source and reason for it.

"It's ok," she called out soothingly to the little animals scattered about the room which, frankly, weren't behaving altogether worried about a noise that had already passed without repeating. "I'm sure it was nothing to worry about," Fluttershy continued, "probably just some old friends showing up… unexpectedly." She alighted on the floor and bent her ears in the direction of her yard, suddenly not so sure of her own conclusion. An old memory told her she was probably supposed to be hearing another sound after the thunderous crack, trailing away as its source moved toward town. That sound was absent. A moment later, Harry the bear stuck his head in the door and roared. "What?" Fluttershy exclaimed. Harry huffed a brief reply and then withdrew his head, clearly expecting Fluttershy to follow. Fluttershy gladly obliged, readying herself for any kind of unexpected disaster. She wasn't disappointed in that regard.

It was a scene simply dripping with déjà vu: three strikingly familiar ponies were sprawled out, unconscious, on the ground a few feet from the fence around the chicken coop. One was a unicorn, ash-grey in color with a mane and tail of fiery red and orange. The second pony was also a unicorn of golden-yellow hue and sporting a brown mane. The third was an earth pony, dark brown on brown. There should have been a fourth, a pegasus that matched the second unicorn, but Fluttershy saw no sign of her, which made the situation all the more dire.

"Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear," Fluttershy said, prancing in place and looking around nervously. "What should I do? I need to go tell Twilight! Oh, but what if they wake up before we get back? Silly Fluttershy, of course they'll wake up soon, they're used to this. Something's obviously wrong, and it would nice to let them wake up to a familiar face, but Heart's missing and… Oh!" She turned back toward her cottage and called, "Angel!" The white bunny rabbit poked his head out of the door, and then hopped over to Fluttershy with a bored look on his face. "Angel," Fluttershy appealed, "you remember Gold Heart, don't you? Could you please be a dear and put together a little search party to see she landed somewhere else nearby?" Angel made a big show of rubbing his chin, tapping his foot, and thinking. "I'll give you something special for dinner," Fluttershy added enticingly. Angel pondered a bit more and then nodded. He hopped away as he stuck a paw in his mouth and whistled shrilly, calling several more bunnies from around the yard.

Satisfied, Fluttershy then turned to Harry, who was still standing nearby, and said, "Keep an eye on these three please. I'm going to go fetch them some water real quick."

* * *

Rarity and Spike both had stars in their eyes as they gazed upon the large diamond, despite the damage it had caused to Rarity's window and table. Twilight wore a more grim expression as she regarded the gem, and then looked at her companions and said, "Doesn't this strike you as familiar?"

"Hm?" Rarity said, coming out her trance. "Whatever do you mean, darling?"

"I mean," Twilight said, "a loud cracking sound comes out of nowhere right around lunch time, followed by a big gem flying in like a meteorite to land nearby."

Rarity stared blankly at her friend, but before Twilight felt the need to elaborate, comprehension dawned. "You're right, Twilight!" she exclaimed. "This is remarkably similar to the circumstances surrounding our first meeting with the Order-naries! You don't suppose..?" she added, eyeing the large diamond with nervous suspicion.

"It couldn't be," Twilight said, but her voice betrayed uncertainty as she lifted the gem out of the wreckage of the table, "but… We might as well make sure." Spike and Rarity gave her plenty of room as she set the diamond down in the floor, stood back, and carefully probed it with her magic. Almost instantly, the gemstone lit up like a lightbulb, and Twilight was hit with a gentle magic feedback that filled her mind with images of pure, sustaining, overwhelming Light. "Gyah!" Twilight cut off her magic abruptly and backed away from the Diamond, her eyes wide with unbelieving shock.

"Is it the real thing, Twi?" Spike asked, "Are they back? Please say it isn't so! I don't want to go on a gem diet!"

"That… hopefully won't be necessary, Spike," Twilight said. She picked the Diamond up in her magic and floated it over to Rarity. "Lock this up somewhere," she said, but then changed her mind and brought it back over to her, saying, "On second thought, let's take it with us. The Order-naries have some questions to answer." Spike mounted up on Twilight's back and the two mares galloped out of the Carousel Boutique and toward the town square, which seemed the most likely place for the Order-naries's transport to be parked. The ponies of Ponyville who were milling about and gossiping nervously calmed slightly at the sight of their local princess running with deliberate purpose through the town and began to follow along in her wake to see what was happening. Twilight, Rarity, and Spike reached their destination with a sizable entourage behind them, but Twilight ignored this as she searched the sky in the direction of the Everfree Forest and Fluttershy's cottage. There was no sign of what she was looking for, and with a frown she sent a large magical flare into the air as a signal. "Could they have gotten lost?" she wondered aloud.

"Twilight!" Rainbow Dash called out as she came in for a landing, sliding to a perfect stop right in front of the lavender alicorn and saluting. "I already flew out to where the Everfree portal's supposed to be, and I didn't see anything," she reported. She then spotted the Diamond floating in Twilight's magic and asked, "What's that?"

"I'm afraid to guess now," Twilight said, deeply troubled. "Did you happen to fly over Fluttershy's?" she asked.

"Nah," Rainbow said, "I figured if they'd come out that way we'd already know."

"We heard it breaking open," Twilight pointed out. "The Everfree portal is too far away for that. Whatever's going on, I think Fluttershy will be the one to know by now."

"Right," Rainbow said, "let's go." She took off, leaving Twilight and Rarity to catch up.

They met up with Fluttershy on the road to her house, and the yellow pegasus was inordinately relieved to see them. "Thank goodness," she panted, whirling right around to run back to her house. "I don't understand what's happening," she said. "I guess I misjudged how quickly they'd wake up, but I never thought they'd go running off."

"Which way did they go?" Rainbow asked. The group arrived at Fluttershy's yard, and she led them over to the chicken run, where the bear was sitting and nursing a sore nose.

"I… I'm not sure," Fluttershy admitted apologetically. "They must have been startled to wake up with Harry standing over them, because they hit him and ran off while he was dazed. At least, that's the story I got from him." The bear groaned.

Rarity scratched her head. "Even if the four of them-"

"Three," Fluttershy cut in. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt." Rarity simply gave her a curious look and gestured for her to continue. "Well," Fluttershy said, growing quieter, "There were only… three of them here."

"Three?" Twilight exclaimed, "Who was missing?"

"Gold Heart," Fluttershy answered.

"Ah-ha!" Twilight said, grinning. "That might explain it then! Gold Heart and Soul Mage can't stand to be separated, but for some reason Heart came out into the Everfree Forest while the other three came out here."

"I didn't see anypony out in that clearing though," Rainbow said.

"Did you really look?" Twilight asked. Rainbow started to retort, but then simply closed her mouth and shook her head. "Ok," Twilight said, resuming her hypothesis, "so they all woke up, Soul went tearing off into the Forest to find Heart, and the others went along to keep him safe."

"But why didn't they use that big flying machine of theirs to come here?" Spike asked.

"Only they can answer that, Spike," Twilight said, levitating the dragon off her back. She pressed the Diamond into his claws and said, "Rainbow and I will try to catch up to them. Spike, you and Rarity go back into town, tell Applejack and Pinkie Pie what's going on and have them help you keep watch in case they come out of the Forest somewhere without us, and keep a close eye on this Gem. Try not to eat it."

"If it's what we think it is," Spike said drily, "I won't even lick it. I have no intention of finding out what it'd do to me."

"Good," Twilight said, "come on Rainbow." The pegasus nodded and trotted off at Twilight's side into the depths of the wild, untamed Everfree Forest.

The trail was fresh and easy to follow, but the quarry was evidently not slowing down for anything, nor did it seem that they'd been hindered much by breaking through the underbrush every so often. After several minutes, Rainbow Dash frowned and glanced up at the canopy of trees. "Something doesn't feel right," she said. "Wait a second; I need to check on something." She flew up through the canopy and Twilight, not wanting to wait or risk getting separated, followed her after a moment. She found Rainbow hovering high above the trees, turning about slowly as she looked for landmarks. "Ah ha, I thought so," she said, pointing. "They're not heading toward the clearing under the portal at all. What gives?"

Twilight was at a complete loss, but before she could express that, a flock of birds burst out of the trees in the direction they'd been traveling, accompanied by the roaring of a manticore. With a shared glance and unspoken agreement, the cyan pegasus and lavender alicorn dove toward the source of the sound. The trees reluctantly parted under the power of Twilight's magic, allowing the pair to swoop in quickly and unscratched to the scene of a battle coming to a quick end. The manticore was casually sweeping aside the body of a brown earth pony mare convulsing from an envenomed wound, and then caught a defiant but uncoordinated grey unicorn under its paw. A short distance away, a golden-yellow unicorn lay unconscious at the foot of a tree, bleeding from a head wound. Rainbow and Twilight both gasped at the sight, and the pegasus put on a burst of speed to try and intercept the manticore's tail before it could strike. She was a second too late; the stinger-tipped tail flashed down and pierced the pinned unicorn at the base of his neck. With an incoherent cry, Rainbow whirled herself around at the last second and drove both rear legs into the beast's face, sending it flipping through the air to land a short distance off. Snarling, the Manticore rolled to its feet, spat out a broken fang, and prepared to attack. Twilight struck next, using a little magic to add weight to her kick and dislodging another tooth. Twilight and Rainbow landed next to each other, wings kept spread wide and heads down challengingly. The manticore eyed them for a second, and then turned and slunk off into the woods, grumpy at being denied a meal.

"Whew," Twilight breathed, relaxing for a second, and then turned around and started taking stock of the damage. In a rush, she conjured up bandages to wrap Soul's head in, and then looked over Ash and Gale. Both had received a dangerous dose of manticore venom, sending their bodies into seizures and paralyzing all voluntary motion. Twilight bit her lip in worried thought, and then cast a general wellness spell over them that stopped the convulsions, although their eyes remained deliriously blank. "We need to get them to Ponyville General now," she said, gathering her power for a massive teleport spell.

"What about Gold Heart?" Rainbow asked.

"I don't think she'd be happy if her brother and friends died, Rainbow," Twilight snapped. "We'll ask Zecora to help search the forest for her," she added more gently, "but these three need medical attention now." A bright magenta light flared around all five ponies, and they vanished from the woods.


	3. Chapter 2: Amnesia Anxiety

At five o'clock in the morning, Fluttershy had to admit defeat. She simply was not going to be able to get a good night's sleep, so long as things remained the way they were. The three Order-naries had been rushed to the emergency room as soon as Twilight had shown up at the hospital with them, treated for their wounds and purged of manticore venom, and then placed together in a room for observation and recovery. They had not yet woken up, not even Soul Mage, who had escaped the manticore's sting. Each of the Element Bearers were taking shifts watching over the trio, even beyond normal visiting hours, just in case they did something else strange when they did wake up. Zecora had led a search party into the Everfree Forest in the general direction the three had been going to try and find the missing fourth Order-nary, but by the end of the day they'd returned without so much as a clue. And then there was the Diamond, brimming with light-based magical power, which had shown up just after the portal opened. There were simply too many unanswered questions and concerns flitting around to allow any pony privy to them a restful night.

With a defeated sigh, Fluttershy climbed out of bed and went downstairs to make herself some tea. She had just put the kettle on to boil when she heard something moving around outside in her yard. Cautiously, she peered outside and could just make out in the pre-dawn light the image of a pony posterior poking out of a bush, its slate-blue, pink-highlighted tail thrashing about as the pony apparently tried to decide between going farther into the bush or pulling herself out. Fluttershy stared in insomniac bemusement for a long while until it occurred to her to investigate further. "Uh, Twilight," she asked as she approached the bush, "why are you in my yard?"

Twilight yelped in surprise, and then again in pain as a twig poked her eye, and then finally managed to contort herself enough to get her head out of the bush to look at Fluttershy. Her mane looked like a bird's nest with all the sticks and leaves tangled up in it, not all of them belonging to the bush she was in, and she had a look that was one part sleep deprivation, two parts sheepish, and one part manic obsession on her face. "Fluttershy!" she exclaimed. "I didn't wake you, did I? I thought I was being quiet enough…"

"I was already awake," Fluttershy said patiently. "I couldn't sleep. Now, sorry I'm repeating myself, but why are you in my yard?"

"I, uh, well…" Fluttershy narrowed her eyes, feeling her patience start to unravel from lack of sleep. Twilight took the hint and breathed deeply to calm her nerves and bring her tongue under control. "I'm looking for PC," she said. Fluttershy's head tilted to the side in confusion. "PC," Twilight repeated slowly, "Ash's, or was it Gale's? Whatever. That talking computer-helmet thing of theirs."

"Uh… I _think_ I know what you're talking about. Maybe?" Fluttershy said, scratching her head. "Why are you looking for it in my bushes?"

"Because the last time the Order-naries fell out of the sky, PC landed in a bush somewhere around here and Pinkie found it," Twilight explained. "With all the other crazy parallels between that and today, and the fact that I really can't imagine the Order-naries getting into something major without PC being involved at some point, I figured there was a good chance it ended up in a bush again. But not this one."

"I see," Fluttershy said as Twilight fully extracted herself from the bush. She sidled over to Twilight's side, brushed some leaves off her coat, and said, "You've obviously been at this for a while. Why don't you come inside for a bit and rest? I was going to make some tea."

Twilight was initially resistant, but as she swept her gaze across Fluttershy's yard and the brush beyond the fence she realized just how much ground she'd covered, and then she looked at her friend's tired, concerned face and gave in. "Tea sounds good," she said.

* * *

"Still no change Applejack?"

The earth pony farmer looked over from her seat in the corner to see Rarity enter the hospital room, and then glanced up at the clock. "Time fer a shift change already?" she asked, standing up and stretching. "Nope," she said, "they ain't so much as stirred the whole time I've been here. If their breathin' weren't so full and steady, I'd be more concerned, but the docs say they just gotta get the meds outta their system and come to on their own at this point. Maybe you'll be the lucky one as gets to be the first mare they see." She patted Rarity on the shoulder as she crossed to the door, but then paused a few steps short of exiting and glanced toward the three comatose ponies.

"Is something the matter Applejack?" Rarity asked.

"I dunno," AJ said uneasily. "I've just been getting this notion the whole time I've been in here that something just ain't right with those three."

"Well, they aren't native to Equestria," Rarity said, "and those aren't their natural forms. Perhaps you're just uneasy because you aren't used to their alien aura after a two year absence."

Applejack shook her head. "That ain't it," she said firmly. "It's almost like the little truth-sense I get from bein' the Element of Honesty is going off, 'cept nopony's told me any big lies. I've been spending the better part of my time here tryin' ta make sense of it, but…" She sighed and shook her head again. "Just stay on yer guard I guess," she advised. She turned to leave again, only to be interrupted by a groan from the bed on the right, the one Gale was laying in. Rarity and Applejack rushed to the foot of the bed and stood with bated breath as the brown earth pony stirred, put a hoof to her head, and then slowly cracked her eyes open, looking first to the hoof with seeming bewilderment before noticing the mares.

"Mornin' pardner," AJ said in a bright but muted voice, "good to see ya again."

"Wha?" Gale croaked, blinking bloodshot, dizzy eyes.

Rarity poured her a glass of water from the pitcher on the table next to the bed and floated it into Gale's hooves as AJ continued to speak soothingly, "Now don't you try getting' up too quickly. In fact, you'd prob'ly just stay in bed until the doctors give ya the OK. Never been stung by a manticore myself, so I can't rightly say how quickly ya get over it."

A pained groan from the farthest bed, Soul Mage, grabbed Rarity and AJ's attention, and as they went over to witness his awakening they failed to see Gale fumble with the water glass, spilling most of it onto herself and half-choking on what little she managed to get into her mouth. Gasping for air, she tried and failed to pull herself into a more upright posture, and then coughed a few times to test her throat. Craning her head to her right, she said, "Where… am I?"

"Why, Ponyville General of course," Rarity answered. Soul Mage didn't seem to be actually waking up, so the unicorn fashionista came back over to Gale's bed. "Where else would we have brought you, darling?" she asked.

"Uh," Gale was at a loss for words, and her face screwed up in pain after a moment.

"Shh, shh," Rarity soothed, pushing the earth pony down gently and magically drying the sheets, "don't stress yourself, Gale."

"Gale?" The earth pony gave Rarity a strange look. Rarity returned the look, but whatever question or explanation she was about to voice was interrupted as the ash-grey pony in the center bed sat up suddenly with something akin to a war cry.

"What happened?" he demanded, looking around with wide eyes devoid of any fatigue or deliriousness. "Where am I?" His gaze locked on Rarity, and she felt a shiver down her spine as those hard green eyes narrowed in confused suspicion. "And who the _skeb_ are you?"

* * *

Rarity sat on the bench in the visitor's waiting area, staring blankly at the wall and only peripherally acknowledging the presence of her friends around her. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were leaning supportively against either side, Applejack was on another bench ruminating on her own troubled thoughts, Rainbow Dash was pacing the length of the room impatiently, and Twilight and Spike were standing off to one side watching the door with trepidation and casting the occasional glance at the bag Twilight was wearing. No one spoke, afraid to voice their worries and potentially set off a stream of hysterics from Rarity. The tension in the room would've required more than a mere knife to cut through.

Finally, the door opened and Doctor Stable entered the room, finding himself instantly the focus of intense stares from seven sets of eyes. Visibly unaffected by the scrutiny, he shut the door behind him and consulted his clipboard before delivering the news everypony was hanging on edge for. "I can't say with certainty that it is amnesia," he said, "but I can't rule it out either. Although cranial trauma can cause it, only one of them actually suffered that, and manticore venom isn't known for inducing amnesia."

"But they don't remember us, do they?" Twilight asked.

"Or anything about having been to Equestria before," the doctor said. "What's troubling," he added with a frown, "is that they do recall the manticore attack, and it seems their memories might otherwise be intact, but they were most uncooperative about providing any personal information. Based on what I do have, there's no reason to keep them here longer than another night, and that's only because I don't want them to be separated until Soul Mage's head has finished healing and they've got their coordination back."

"And Soul's ok with this?" AJ asked, quirking an eyebrow, "No fightin' to get out and find his sister?"

"No, he's actually quite calm," the doctor said. "You can go see them if you want, but be careful with what you say. You can try to help them recall their memory, but don't pressure them too much." With that, he turned and left the room.

"Well," Twilight asked after an awkward moment, "should we go see them?"

"I don't think I can bear to," Rarity said. "I can't face that _look_ he gave me, without even a trace of recognition!"

"It'll be ok Rarity," Fluttershy said, "but why don't we take you home so you can rest?" She and Pinkie coaxed Rarity off the bench and escorted her away.

AJ and Rainbow Dash both shifted about uncomfortably in their places, caught between two problems of equal weight. "I don't like this business with Heart not being a concern for them," Rainbow said at last, "I'm going to go look for her again."

"I'll come with ya," AJ said quickly. "Uh, if that's ok with you Twi," she added uncertainly.

"You don't have to ask me for permission," Twilight said, rolling her eyes. "Spike and I will be fine. You two be safe, alright?" Rainbow and Applejack nodded and raced each other for the door. Once they were gone, Twilight and Spike made their way to the Order-naries's room. As they drew near, they heard voices from within engaged in discussion. Spike put a finger to his mouth, and both he and Twilight quietly leaned an ear against the door to listen.

"…obviously have _some_ conception of it," Soul Mage saying, sounding a tad frustrated, "but it's right weird."

"You won't have any problem answering to it though, right?" Ash asked pointedly.

"Of course not," Soul snapped.

"That settles it then," Ash said. "We'll play along with the amnesia story until we get enough information to act on our own."

_Well, they're sure confident_, Twilight thought. _Not too sure I like that._ "Act casual," she instructed Spike in a mutter, and then knocked politely on the door before opening it and stepping through.

"Ye gads," Soul blurted when he saw her, evidently forgetting himself, "they come with wings now?!"

_Easy Twilight_, the alicorn cautioned herself, swallowing her chagrin, _they don't remember me for one thing, and even if they did this will be their first time seeing me with wings. And that _is_ a typical Soul Mage reaction._ Putting on a pleasant smile, she said, "Hi, I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is Spike, my assistant. I'm the librarian here in Ponyville and… former student of Princess Celestia."

"Former student?" Ash asked as the others stared blankly.

"I… graduated," Twilight said, spreading her wings demonstratively.

"I see," Ash said noncommittally, settling into his bed a little bit. "Well, Ms. Sparkle," he said in the manner of one taking charge, "my teammates and I don't recognize you, but your presence here means you're someone we're supposed to know. A friend perhaps? If so, could you help us… remember?"

"That is why we're here," Spike drawled.

"Good," Ash said, giving the dragon a searching look. "First of all," he asked as he looked back at Twilight, "can you tell us more precisely where we are and…" He trailed off uncertainly, but the glance he shot toward his hoof finished the question for him.

"And why you're ponies?" Twilight asked, with a knowing smile at their surprise. "You're in the world of Equestria, in a kingdom of the same name," she said, "ruled in tandem by the sisters Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, who oversee the movement of the sun and moon, respectively. Oh, it's true," she added when Gale snorted, "you'll see, if your memories don't come back on their own. As to your appearances, we're still not sure _why_, but in this reality we simply can't have humans, so any who come here automatically change into an appropriate type of pony."

"You already know that we're not… from around here?" Gale asked, surprised.

"Of course," Twilight said. "We've met before, and you weren't quite so… reluctant to volunteer information the first time you showed up. Speaking of which, I've got something here I've been stressing over lately that might spark a few memories." She opened her bag and levitated out the Diamond, noting how all of the three bed-ridden ponies's eyes locked onto it instantly. "You recognize this?" she asked, giving it a magical squeeze to awaken its power enough to make it glow. Soul and Gale sat up sharply, and Ash nearly shot out his bed in a dive for the gem, except that Twilight managed to react quickly enough to catch him in a telekinetic bubble. "Easy there Ash," she said with amusement, setting him down and tucking the sheets around him again, "you're still recovering."

"Do you even know what it is you're… holding there?" Ash asked, a tone of warning in his voice, "It's-"

"Potentially the most powerful focus of Light magic in the known worlds," Twilight interrupted blithely, and then sighed at the expressions of utter shock on their faces. "I'm not just a librarian you know," she said. "My specialty is magic, and when a large gemstone comes crashing into my friend's kitchen out of nowhere, I check it for magic. I know all too well what this is and what it could forebode. The only question I have is, to borrow an Ash-ism, what the _skeb_ is it doing here in Equestria, _again_?"

* * *

Rarity took full advantage of Fluttershy's willing ear and the absence of Applejack and Rainbow to give vent to her most dramatic sighs as she plodded toward her home. "Oh what tragic irony," she said. "After nearly two years I am reunited with the stallion of my dreams, and by a cruel twist of fate he's been stripped of all memory of me! What woe."

"Aw, don't worry Rarity," Pinkie said brightly, "we'll find a way to get his memory back, and then we'll have a big party and you can go right back to trying to woo him."

"Oh, Pinkie," Rarity giggled, a slight blush visible through her fur. "You're quite right though," she said with determination, "even if it will be a lot of hard, depressing work…"

"Hey! Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy!" The three named ponies stopped and turned to see Applejack galloping toward them, Rainbow not far behind her and both wearing smug smiles.

"Girls," Rarity said, "what is it?"

"Nothing," Rainbow said smoothly, "just that I think we found Gold Heart."

"What?! Where?" everypony exclaimed at once.

"There," Rainbow said, pointing to the sky behind her. Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie looked up and saw what looked like a giant metal wedge with wings flying toward Ponyville.

"Oh my gosh!" Pinkie gasped, bouncing excitedly, "It's the ship! The… the…" She paused in mid-air as she tried to remember.

"The _Lirin_, ain't it?" AJ suggested.

"That's it!" Pinkie said, resuming her joyful bounce.

"Some good news at last," Rarity said with relief as the ship flew overhead, headed towards the town square. The girls followed at a quick trot, reaching the square just as the _Lirin_ finished settling onto the ground. Ponies were giving it a wide berth, some watching it with unrecognizing suspicion, and so Rarity and the group had no trouble getting an up-close seat to watch the port-side hatch hiss open and then drop down into a ramp. After a moment, an ash-grey unicorn stallion with a wild red and orange mane wearing a necklace made of gems and braided gold wire stepped into view at the top of the ramp, quickly accompanied by a brown earth pony wearing a half-helmet-like headset, and a unicorn and pegasus in matching golden-yellow coats and brown manes.

Seeming completely unaware of the five stunned, slack-jawed ponies gathered at the foot of the ramp, Ashen Blaze took a deep breath through his nose, smiled, and declared, "Greetings Ponyville! We're back!"


	4. Chapter 3: The Strangely Familiar

When silence greeted his announcement, Ash took a second look at the five ponies seated at the bottom of the _Lirin_'s entry ramp, who all looked like they'd seen a ghost. He slowly looked over his shoulder at his companions with a perplexed look on his face. Two of them simply shrugged and looked confused as well, but Gold Heart went a step further by taking a few steps down the ramp, waved awkwardly at the five Element Bearers, and said, "Um, hello? Girls?"

"Ahh! What is going on?!" Pinkie wailed, clapping both forehooves to the side of her head and tottering around wildly, "Make it _stop_; I'm so confuuuused!" She fell over onto her back, head lolling back to look pleadingly up at the ponies in the ship. It wasn't quite enough to break the rest of the tableau, as everypony else continued to just stand around trying to make sense of what was going on.

"I have the distinct feeling we're missing something here," Soul Mage muttered to his group at last.

"Clearly," Ash deadpanned, and then spoke up and asked, "What, has it been so long that you all forgot about us? Or, I hope not, did you actually doubt that we'd keep our promise to come visit you again?"

"But you were already _here_!" Pinkie exclaimed, flailing her hooves in the general direction of the hospital.

"Come again?" Ash gave the pink pony an odd look, and then shook his head. "Does anypony here have a better grasp on their sanity that can explain?" he asked. "Anypony? Applejack? Rarity?"

"Ash!" Rarity cried, charging up the ramp and tackling Ash in a hug, crying tears of relief and joy all the while. "Oh, it is you! You do remember me! I… I… Oh heavens," she released the somewhat dazed unicorn, blushing deeply, "how undignified of me. My apologies, Ash, but… Oh, I just don't know what's happening."

"Does _anypony_?" Soul asked desperately.

"Well," Applejack said, "it might be best just to show you. It's a mystery that just keeps gettin' deeper the more time passes. Come on." The Order-naries exchanged glances and then fell into step with the group as they turned to return to the hospital. Pinkie bounced back to her hooves, her confused hysterics gone like they'd never existed, and Rarity walked almost intimately close to Ash's side, which he allowed in deference to her rather fragile emotional state.

"Can we at least get a hint?" Soul asked. "Something tells me this won't be the kind of surprise we're going to like."

"I reckon it isn't," Applejack conceded. "Ya see… Shoot, how do Ah put this?"

"There's evil clones of you guys in the hospital," Rainbow said. The entire group stopped and gave her a weird look.

"What," Soul said flatly, speaking for everypony.

"'Evil' might be jumping to conclusions Rainbow," Rarity said.

"Fine, _bucking insane_ clones then," the pegasus amended sourly. "Yesterday they fell out of the sky like you guys do and then ran off into the Everfree Forest and lost a fight with a manticore. They're dead ringers for you in looks."

"Except for Gold Heart," Pinkie put in. "They don't have one of her." Heart and Soul exchanged a bewildered look at that.

"Hold on," Gale said, "what's this 'fell out of the sky like you do' junk? We did that _once_. That's not a habit."

"What about all the other worlds between your home and here?" Rainbow retorted smugly.

"Touché."

The mood was considerably brighter than it had been in the last little while, because although there now seemed to be two different versions of the Order-naries in the same world, the native ponies were on familiar ground with the more recent arrivals. No one was really relaxed, however, because there now seemed to be two different versions of the Order-naries. As they neared the hospital, one of the implications of this fact dawned on Soul Mage. "We're probably going to cause an incident if we just walk in there, since three of us are supposed to be in there already, recovering."

"Ooo, good point!" Pinkie said. "Just a second." She zipped around the corner of the building, zoomed back, and before anypony could blink had affixed false mustaches to Ash, Soul, and Gale's faces. "There," she said in satisfaction.

"You must be kidding," Gale said, trying to figure out how the mustache was attached so she could remove it. Ash sketched and cast a quick spell that banished his to someplace else, while Soul simply ripped his off.

"Aw," Pinkie said glumly, "no one ever likes the mustaches. Oh well! Plan B: Rarity and I make a distraction while you all sneak in."

"That sounds more reasonable," Ash said. Pinkie beamed, grabbed Rarity and vanished through the hospital doors. AJ poked her head inside, and after a minute motioned for the group to move in.

"Tread softly y'all," she cautioned in a low tone. "Pinkie knows her business, but some ponies might not be so engaged." The pegasi all flapped softly to lighten their steps, but the rest had to stay focused on where they put their hooves as they quickly crossed the reception area, where Pinkie was improvising a song and dance number which at the least held the attention of all the staff that were present, and through a door Rarity was holding open for them while flirting with an orderly. Once the Order-naries were all past that checkpoint, Rarity gave a subtle signal that she hoped Pinkie caught and understood and then followed the quick, stealthy procession toward the "other" Order-naries's room. There were a few close calls with nurses going about their rounds, one of which necessitated stuffing the four out-worlders into a closet and then waiting for them to catch up at the next turn, but when they finally reached the goal no alarms had been raised and Pinkie Pie had rejoined the party. The door was slightly ajar, and the sound of conversation leaked out into the hall unimpeded.

"Ok, look, Missy," a voice eerily like Ash's said, "you seem to be under some misplaced impressions. I really doubt you truly understand the gravity of the situation here, so-"

"I do understand," the voice of Twilight Sparkle snapped. "I don't know if it is a memory problem with you, or I have mistaken you three for someponies else, but either way you're going to trust I'm quite familiar with this, and I'm not giving up until I get some answers."

"I was wondering where Twilight was," Heart mused.

"Aye," Ash said, "and that sounded like a cue to me." He put on his stoic, "serious business" expression, waited for his team to get into formation, and then nudged the door open and marched in. He swept the room with his eyes, suppressing his gut reaction to recognizing the three ponies in the bed, and then turned and said, "So, Twilight, I-" He faltered, blinked twice, and spluttered, "Why do you have wings?!"

"Long… story," Twilight said slowly, looking between the two nearly-matched sets of Order-naries as her brain tried to catch up with this new development.

The Ash in the bed recovered his normal state of mind quicker than anypony else, and regarded the newcomers with a studying look. "I assume these are the _ponies_ you were confusing us for?"

"I hear you decided to cross paths with a manticore shortly after waking up in a familiar body," Ashen Blaze retorted. "That does not speak well for you; there are many less potentially lethal ways to go about ruining somebody's reputation."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," the bedridden Ash countered darkly.

"Down, boys," Gold Heart said with gentle firmness, stepping between the two. "It won't help anyone if we start out by trying to jump down each other's throats. You three are injured and strangers here; wouldn't it be in your best interests to make nice with the locals? Believe me, you won't find better allies in all of Equestria than the ponies in this room right now."

"She has a point there," the bed-ridden Gale said to her Ash. "They've got us at a disadvantage, Traev, and perhaps they'll relinquish the Diamond once we've explained ourselves."

"Traev?" Ashen Blaze murmered. "Diamond? What-" Gold Heart silenced him by putting a wing over his mouth and giving him a hard look.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," she said, and then nodded to the ponies in the beds. "Proceed, please."

"Very well," grumbled the other ash-grey stallion. "I suppose we should start with names. I am Traev Maestron Brogalio, and these are my teammates."

"Johnten Drago," said the golden-yellow unicorn in the bed on the left.

"Carrie Chen," the brown earth pony said with a nod.

"Well, no possible name confusion problems there," Soul Mage said with a grin.

"Lovely," Traev deadpanned. "We…" He seemed unsure of how to continue and looked to his fellows for help.

"Why don't we start with this?" Twilight asked, opening her bag and levitating the Diamond out again.

"Twilight," Ashen Blaze said slowly, "is that…?" Twilight passed it to him and he held it before his face, staring into its depths as he activated the magic within it. It lit up, and Ash's eyes widened in disbelief. "_Bah re_," he breathed, "in neither dream nor nightmare have I expected to see this again."

"What is this 'again' thing you… ponies are on about?" Carrie Chen asked. "I'm pretty sure I'd remember if we'd passed through a world like this before."

"Question," Ash said, watching the Diamond slowly rotate in his magic grip. "This Gem is just one part of a set, isn't it? Numbering seven in all, one for each Magical Element?"

"Yes," Traev said in surprise, "but how-"

"You three," Ash interrupted, now warming up to a narrative, "are currently embroiled in a repeating hunt that spans dimensions for these Gems of great but chaotic power. Your opponent in this race is a demon of considerable power, bound by fate to the power of the Gems and who seeks them for some megalomaniacal end. Again, again, and endlessly again you have gathered the Gems together, tried to turn them against the demon, and in a catastrophe moment you are all plucked up, flung to a new universe, and the cycle begins anew. Please tell me I'm way off the mark here."

A sudden chill seemed to settle over the room, coupled with a long, pregnant pause as anxious and shock expressions were exchanged like cards in a high-speed round of Go Fish. Finally, the doppelganger of Soul Mage, Johnten Drago, cleared his throat and said, "No, that's actually a pretty good summation of the situation. Yeah."

"Oh my," Rarity said, swooning.

"This is way too freaky," said Rainbow Dash.

"You said it," Spike agreed.

The Order-naries took the news with a more proactive attitude, moving slightly away and going into a huddle, with the large Diamond in the center. One by one, Heart, Soul, and Gale each touched the Gem and verified for themselves that it seemed filled with the power of Light, waiting and willing to answer any call to come out and act. "It feels a bit different, I think," Heart said. "Almost like there's something approaching intelligence in there."

"Large stores of power can develop the illusion of will," Ash said. "It's just the potential energy wanting to move, and an able mind is actually a fairly weak point for it to press against. More importantly, there's six of these unaccounted for, not to mention that _skvetchte _Tau'rin. Gale, does PC still have the data he needs to track the Gems?"

The head-mounted computer activated, and Gale read the readout on the eyepiece. "The only thing he has on them in his local memory is a basic record of our own hunts, and the order you gave him shortly after the end to forget the Gem signatures if he needed to free up memory. The _Lirin_'s computer might have a back-up, but he's having some issues connecting to it from here."

"Ok," Ash said, "this is not how I wanted to spend my Equestrian vacation, but it is what it is."

"Hey," Traev said smartly, "what are you lot muttering about? If you believe us, we'd like our Diamond back now."

"No need to worry yourself over it, my fine mirror-match," Ash spoke up, using the Diamond to sketch a smug salute. "It's in good hooves with us. Let the docs finish up with you, and then see if you can catch up. Twilight, girls, Spike, we'll see you around." The Order-naries trotted out of the room even as the ponies in the beds cried out in protest and tried to rise in pursuit. Twilight restrained them, enchanting the bedclothes to hold them in place. By the time they'd been forcibly settled, Doctor Stable burst into the room, saw that his patients were where they belonged, and then looked back into the hall in bewilderment.

"I guess they were telling the truth," he said, scratching his head. "Can somepony tell me what's going on?"

"Yes," Twilight Sparkle said with faint amusement, "at long last, I think we can."

* * *

When one makes their living as an entertainer, it is essential that one takes efforts to remain in the audience's good graces. A little ego-stroking is acceptable, and even expected of certain kinds of acts and performers, but a show based entirely around boasting and humiliating any and all hecklers will only lead to disaster. The Great and Powerful Trixie had learned this lesson the hard way and now made it a point to surround herself with fellow entertainers so she would have to share the stage and pay out as many compliments as she received. There was still the occasional challenge to match her wide range of skills against some self-aggrandizing specialist or local celebrity, but Trixie made a point of trying to meet those challenges on fair ground and to never gloat over her victory.

In this particular case, however, she was making an exception.

Her plan was going perfectly. As she had expected, Tremolo's already revenge-obsessed mind had been twisted and narrowed even further by the Alicorn Amulet, allowing her to get away with many smoke-and-mirror tricks disguised as age-altering, duplication, and even gender-changing spells. She said a silent thanks to Luna that before Tremolo had first shown up with the Amulet she'd had the chance to rebuild some connections among the ponies of Hoofington, because the act she was putting on wouldn't have been possible with only the ponies of her troupe to act as her assistants. It wasn't an easy show by any means, since Tremolo's main shtick had been subverting and exposing Trixie's trickery, but by not allowing him more than a moment to think between tricks and speaking in terms to make him suspect illusion rather than smokescreens and substitution she'd managed to keep him off-balance and flustered. She could see the wheels starting to turn in his head though, and knew it was time for the _coup de gras_.

"Not yet willing to admit defeat?" she asked condescendingly, watching the red unicorn seethe. "Surely you can see that Trixie is and always will be the greatest and most powerful unicorn of the stage, no matter what means you may employ against her."

"No," Tremolo said. "No, all this can't be real. You're just a fake Trixie; you can't possibly have this kind of power! You're just playing me for a fool again, and I'll figure out how."

"Will you just give it up already?" Harlequin called out in a bored shout. "What does she have to do, turn a pony into a rabbit or something?"

"Ha!" Tremolo scoffed, "not even the highest level unicorns can actually change a pony into a different species."

"Challenge accepted," Trixie said dismissively. Tremolo narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but didn't scoff again, giving her tacit approval to try. "Cabbage Patch, would you mind?" Trixie asked, looking to the smallest member of her troupe. The little earth pony was shaking with nerves, but nodded and stepped forward to where Trixie indicated: the very middle of the road and far removed from the crowd and objects big enough to hide behind. "Just give Trixie a moment to warm up," the azure showmare said with a great show of stretching and sending sparks off her horn, "and then you'll see some real magic. If you can undo Trixie's spell, then she'll admit defeat, but if not, then you honor your word and remove that gaudy amulet."

"Sure," Tremolo said, staring unblinking at Trixie.

Trixie came to a standstill, head down and eyes closed as if clearing her mind in preparation, and then lit up her horn and pointed it toward Cabbage, who was shifting about nervously. A nimbus of pink light surrounded the little pony, and her mane and tail started floating freely as if they were underwater. Trixie gritted her teeth in concentration as the aura around her horn grew in size and strength until it seemed she couldn't hold it back any longer. At that point she let it fly and Cabbage Patch was engulfed by a thick green smoke cloud. When it cleared, the sea-green pony was gone, and in her place was a similarly-sized buffalo calf with big, golden eyes.

Tremolo's jaw dropped, and then he looked at Trixie's smug smile and grew hard again. "Illusion, it must be," he said.

"So you thought of all Trixie's accomplishments today," the showmare said without losing her smile. Tremolo scowled and then hit the poor buffalo with every counter-spell he knew, all to no effect besides leaving her laying on the ground in a daze.

"I… I…" Tremolo stammered, and then slumped in defeat. He reached up a hoof, undid the clasp on the Alicorn Amulet, and slid it off his neck. Before he could think twice and go back on his word, Trixie yanked the amulet out of his grip and passed it to Harlequin, who had a box ready to receive it. Trixie then cast a spell that changed Cabbage back to normal in another puff of green smoke.

"Now, Tremolo," the showmare said, "be warned: I have the royal patronage of Princess Luna herself to perform as I see fit, and if you ever harass me or my troupe again we'll see to it that you answer to her, _capiche_?" She whirled about and strutted to her stage-wagon in the company of her troupe.

Unseen by all, a pair of eyes glowing with chaotic power watched as the crowd dispersed, leaving the sorry, broken, angry red unicorn glaring in impotent rage at his justified and victorious enemy.


	5. Chapter 4: Plans, Plots and Poltergeists

If aircraft similar to the _Lirin_ were known in Equestria, most ponies likely would agree that the ship the Order-naries had come in on was not going to win any beauty contests. Shaped like a giant wedge with wings stuck on near the aft end and only slightly smoothed for aerodynamics, it's exterior looked like a patchwork of random metal sheets slapped on without any thought for coloration or pattern, and it didn't even appear to have windows or any other means of observing the outside world from within. In fact, there were cameras embedded in various locations all over the ship which could feed data to a large screen in the cockpit, but one would need to look hard to find them.

Seeing as the _Lirin_ was the only thing of its kind in Equestria – so far – it was a source of great interest and wonderment to many of Ponyville's residents, especially the colts and fillies. Thus Twilight was surprised, pleasantly, but surprised nonetheless, to see that its hatch stood open and yet it wasn't playing host to the Cutie Mark Crusaders or any of their peers. As she walked up the ramp and poked her head inside, she discovered the reason why: somepony had set a strong but non-coercive "do not disturb" spell across the doorway designed to temporarily enhance a potential intruder's respect for privacy. Seeing as Twilight had an actual purpose besides idle curiosity for crossing the threshold, the spell didn't do much to deter her and its effects faded quickly.

The interior of the _Lirin_ was an improvement over the outside, in that it at least had a consistent and coherent theme of stark functionality. The main cabin she had entered obviously filled the role of passenger seating, although a few of the seats along the starboard wall had apparently been converted into a makeshift bed. Gale, alerted by the sound of Twilight's hooves on the floor, poked her head out of the cargo area in the aft, and Ash and the twins, likewise alerted, emerged from the cockpit.

"Twilight," Ash said with a smile, "good to see you, friend. Come on in, take a seat, tell us why you're suddenly an alicorn."

Twilight couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, I missed you guys," she said, and then sobered. "I'll tell you that story in a little bit, but we do have some important business to deal with. Where's the Diamond?"

"Storage," Gale answered simply. "Why?"

"The other… yous are pretty insistent on having it in their own possession," Twilight said. "They also claim they can use its power to speed up their healing so they can be released from the hospital today."

"That doesn't make much sense," Ash said, bemused. "The Diamond's element is Light. If you use healing magic, the primary element is most likely to be Aether, or maybe a mixture of Earth, Water, Fire, and Air."

"Maybe it works differently where they're from," Soul suggested.

"Possibly, but I find that hard to swallow," Ash said.

"So that's a no," Twilight said, sounding as if she agreed. "Next order of business then," she continued seriously, "do you have a plan for finding the other Gems?"

"Yep," Gold Heart said. "The only real difference between last time and this one is we know exactly what to do with them once we've got them: dump them at Tau'rin's feet and break one over his thick skull."

"Thus either stranding our duplicates here in Equestria to cause untold amounts of unintentional mistaken-identity problems," Soul Mage pointed out dispassionately, "or requiring us to find a way to give them a ride back to their home universe without getting lost on the multiversal superhighway."

"So, you'd rather just let Tau'rin punch a miles-wide hole in the countryside and send them all on their way?" Heart asked pointedly.

"Only if that's the least distasteful option," Soul countered with a casual shrug.

"So you're still discussing it," Twilight said conclusively. "That's in the long-term though; what about the short-term?"

"Meaning, do we have any leads?" Ash asked. "PC's still downloading the data he needs to scan for the Gems," he answered in the next breath. "I don't see much reason to rush anyway. We've got the Diamond in hand, which means we're already fated to encounter the old demon sooner or later, so unless he starts hurting innocents in his own search for the Gems, he's not a high priority. Besides, we came here to take a break from the whole 'saving the world' business, and I intend to spend what remains of today, at the minimum, in recreation, if you don't mind."

"I don't have any objections," Twilight said graciously.

"Great," Ash said. "Now, will you _please_ tell us where you got those wings?"

* * *

A few hours later, the Order-naries and the Element Bearers met for dinner at one of Ponyville's restaurants. By mutual consent, they tried to steer their conversation away from the Chaotic Gems, the alternate Order-naries, and the looming need to deal with them. However, that particular proverbial pachyderm on the premises proved too ponderous and provocative to avoid for long. Acknowledging the inevitable, but still wanting to provide a possible escape, Gold Heart took a roundabout approach to the topics. "What about are we going to do about sleeping arrangements?" she asked her fellows. "The _Lirin_'s not exactly set up for pony comfort."

"I have a room to spare," Rarity volunteered instantly, with a significant look at Ash.

"Your eyes seem to be suggesting something others could easily misinterpret, milady," Ash said.

"Ah, oh dear," Rarity blushed, "I keep forgetting myself today, don't I?"

"I'll take that room, if it's ok," Gale said. "For the time being at least," she added slyly. Ash glared warningly at her.

"I can pull out my guest bed," Twilight said. "It can sleep two, so I can take in Heart and Soul."

"Works for me," Soul Mage said.

"I'll sleep in my ship," Ash said. "Somepony needs to be there to guard the Diamond anyway." Heart frowned at that but didn't protest, knowing the argument was valid.

"What about the other Order-naries?" Fluttershy asked. "They'll be out of the hospital tomorrow after all; they'll need a place to stay."

"Mah cattle barn happens to be empty," Applejack said. "If we're really gonna do the Chaotic Gem thing again, might as well give that lot as similar an experience as y'all had, right?" she added with a smirk.

"Well, it _did_ go rather smoothly for us, compared to our experiences in other worlds," Ash said approvingly.

"Except for the part where Rarity's house got destroyed and Spike turned to stone because he took a bite out of the Emerald," Dash said.

"Or when Ash got himself banned from Cloudsdale for life for stealing the Topaz in broad daylight," Gale put in.

"That was totally worth it and you'll never convince me otherwise," Ash said with pride. "And in our plans, let's not forget the three newcomers," he added soberly. "First thing we do once they're out of the hospital is earn their trust, so we aren't working at cross-purposes with them. From there, each Gem in its turn."

"And you'll have the Elements of Harmony behind you," Twilight Sparkle said, reaching a hoof out to the center of the table. One by one, the others extended their own hooves, forming a growing circle of unity.

* * *

"No, please, you're too kind, but Trixie can't possibly eat another bite!" Trixie, indeed showing signs of being stuffed, backed into her wagon with a covered basket floating beside her and shut the door on the latest of her well-wishers with gentle finality. "Whew," she said, turning around, a look of great pleasure on her face, "Trixie could get used to this hero business!"

"I hope Trixie hasn't forgotten her loyal yet starving assistants," Harlequin said dryly, eyeing the basket with clear greed.

Trixie rolled her eyes and set the basket on the floor, whisking the cover off to reveal an assortment of pastries. "You have eaten as well as the rest of us today, Quin," she said, "unless food goes somewhere other than your greedy gut after you swallow it." The earth pony acrobat smiled cheekily and helped himself to a couple of bear claws. "Cabbage Patch?" Trixie called out, looking around for the little impressionist, "Where are you?"

"Over here," Cabbage said tiredly, poking her head out a nest of ribbons she'd made in a corner.

"I just wanted to make sure you know how proud and impressed I am with you," Trixie said. "I can't imagine how hard it was for you to hold that buffalo form, even if it was only for a minute or two."

"Nah, it's easy to stay in a chosen shape," Cabbage said, stifling a yawn. "It's the transforming itself that's difficult for me. I'm really glad you managed to win, Trixie; Tremolo seemed to be down to his last marble, and it was frightening."

"I couldn't have done it without you," Trixie said, shoving the pastry basket across the floor toward Cabbage. "Help yourself," she insisted, "You deserve as much praise as I do." Cabbage smiled in gratitude, took a pastry, and curled back up into her nest.

"Well then," Barnacle Salt said, searching through the basket for himself, "now that Hoofington's finished being rightly grateful, what should our next stop be?" He looked to the troupe's accountant and planner, Maggie Pie, but Trixie answered first.

"Ponyville," she said. "Twilight Sparkle wanted me to give the Alicorn Amulet to her myself in exchange for the advice she gave me. We won't be putting on any shows there, and we'll leave as soon as I hoof over the amulet, so maybe we'll avoid the curse for once."

"There's no curse Trixie," Maggie Pie said with the air of reviving an old, tired argument.

"Bad things happen to me in that town," Trixie said insistently, "Every. Single. Time."

Outside, Tremolo crouched in the lengthening evening shadow of a building down the road but still in sight of Trixie's wagon. The ponies of Hoofington hadn't arrested him or run him out of town for his actions under the influence of the Alicorn Amulet, but neither had they extended a hoof of forgiveness and help. The town seemed to have come to a silent agreement just to ignore the red unicorn stallion and hope he'd go away. In most circumstances, he would have left to nurse his wounded pride and try to guess Trixie's next move if he couldn't simply follow the troupe from a distance. Something kept him here though, a feeling that he couldn't quite identify, or refused to acknowledge.

He simply couldn't accept the evidence of his own eyes. Trixie had ruined his life, humiliating him when he'd first tried to disprove her claim of "anything you can do, I can do better," and then when her lies finally caught up to her had refused to roll over and accept it as her just due. Rather, she had rebounded, charming most of her victims into forgetting about her crimes and then climbing to even greater heights than ever before. She had a royal patronage now, blazoned on the side of her wagon for all to see, which she had just proven all too eager to hide behind to escape Tremolo at last.

"Rest easy Trixie," he growled to himself, "but I'll get you, somehow."

"Plotting revenge, are we?" a voice said. Tremolo jumped and looked around, but didn't see anyone nearby. "A man after my own heart, so to speak."

"Who are you?" Tremolo demanded. "Come out where I can see you!"

"Now, now, I don't mean you any harm," the disembodied voice said charmingly. "In fact, I might be able to help you get your revenge."

"How?" Tremolo asked disparagingly. "Trixie is under the protection of Princess Luna herself."

"If the law is your problem, then you will need a power that is beyond law," the voice coaxed. A line of light, colored red, yellow, blue, and green, appeared on the ground before Tremolo, leading to somewhere outside of Hoofington.

"What will this cost me?" Tremolo asked without moving.

"Nothing much, really," the voice said, starting to fade as if the source was moving away. "You simply have to help me get some revenge of my own."

"Hmph, deal," Tremolo said, and set off to follow the line. He put Hoofington behind him, and nopony seemed to notice or care.

* * *

Evening was falling, and Ashen Blaze was making his way back to the _Lirin_ in relatively high spirits. As much as he had spoken out to claim some of the vacation he'd come to Equestria for, and had legitimately enjoyed the peaceful sights he had indulged in, he was at heart a soldier who craved the thrill of adventure and outwitting enemies, all in the name of preserving peace and order of course. He hummed tunelessly while focusing pulses of magic energy into and around his horn, refamiliarizing himself with the feel of Equestria's latent magic flowing into his body, being redirected through the intricately woven matrix of gemstones around his neck to build in strength and attract more magic, and then resuming the trip to the natural focal point every unicorn had on their forehead. Ash was an expert in bending the energy into new and innovative forms on the spot, but his specialty involved using dormant energy outside of himself whereas unicorn magic required channeling internally stored energy. Ash's capacity to store magic energy was equal to that of an average, non-scholarly unicorn, and less than a lot of his spells required, necessitating his use of the gemstone necklace he'd dubbed the Artificial Element of Magic.

The town square was empty, as the townsfolk were, for the most part, at home preparing for bed, and even the most ardent gawkers the _Lirin_ had attracted throughout the day had long since grown bored with its lack of doing anything interesting since it had landed. The ship was a silent, dark shape in the growing moonlight, a familiar, reliable constant in Ash's mind that linked all the epochs of his life. He approached it, but before he could speak the passcode the hatch began to open on its own.

"_Skvetch_," he swore, startled. "Confound it PC," he yelled into the opening ship, "you know I hate it when you predict my commands!"

"_This is not my doing, sirrah_," the computer responded, "_or the ship's for that matter. Something has activated the manual override for the hatch but…_" It continued droning on about not registering an intruder and possible sensor malfunctions, but Ash stopped paying attention when the hatch was about halfway down and the Diamond came floating out of the ship without any visible means of support, not even the aura of unicorn levitation magic.

"What in the…?" Ash stared, dumbfounded for a second before his instincts kicked in and he leaped into action. He wrapped the Diamond in his magic grip and tugged, and after only the briefest moment of resistance it responded, flying toward him and orbiting his head twice before coming to a stop. "Now, what is your-" he started to ask the Gem, but then something started trying to pull it away from him. Ash took a tighter grip and a firmer, challenging stance. "Reveal yourself, whatever you are," he ordered in a low tone. His eyes searched frantically for any signs of spells or unusual disturbances in the threads of magic in the square, but he saw nothing but the ripples of his own magic and the abundance of Light energy flowing in and around the contested Diamond. Whatever was fighting him was truly, impossibly, invisible, but it didn't seem to have any capabilities besides pulling against his strength.

That changed when Ash suddenly felt a sharp pain in the side of his head, as if he'd been punched by a fist that had simply ignored the existence of skin and bones for a couple of inches before connecting. He was sent rolling as if he had been punched as well, and his concentration broke as he hit the ground, releasing the Diamond fully into the invisible thief's control. The Gem started floating away rapidly as Ash struggled to clear his vision and regain his focus.

"Ok," he groaned, "that… haven't felt that kind of attack in a while but… Spirit!" He surged to his hooves and charged after the Diamond, running past it as he made another magical grab for it and snatched it out of the invisible thief's hands. He whipped it back and forth a couple of times just to make sure he's dislodged his opponent, and then pinned it to the ground with a hoof. "I wasn't aware that Equestria could harbor free spirits," he said, "so I can't help but wonder what you are and where you came from. Know this though: I can't fight you directly, but I will not let you take this Diamond. Its power is too great for me to trust it in the hands or hooves of any unknown entity. Defy me, and I will follow you tirelessly back to whatever sent you and end them, if I deem it necessary, to protect this world. I am Ashen Blaze, and I always keep my word."

For a long while, silence was the only answer to Ash's challenge, and he started to think the spirit had fled, or at least given up. With a satisfied snort, he levitated the Diamond and started back to the _Lirin_. He'd only gone a few steps, however, when a cold wind picked up and swirled around him. Ash pulled the Gem in close to his chest and looked around warily, and then within the wind he heard a faint voice, gruff and resigned. "I should have guessed," it seemed to say. "You're just as crazy as you look."

"Excuse me?" Ash asked, insulted. "Explain yourself!" The wind vanished as quickly as it had come, and there were no further answers. The spirit had actually departed this time, and the night was perfectly still and quiet. "_Skvetchte_ ghosts," Ash grumbled as he walked up and into his ship. "PC, memo: tell the twins to keep an eye out. Something spectral may have taken an interest in the Gems."


	6. Chapter 5: How to Pony

"I don't think I have ever been so frustrated in my _life_!"

"Would you give it a rest already Traev?" Carrie Chen groaned irritably. "It's not like this is the first time you've been without your magic."

"That's not," Traev started to snap, but then paused and amended, "_entirely_ the issue. We're all trapped here, powerless, while some cocky band of locals are out there playing with powers they can't possibly comprehend."

"I don't think you're giving them enough credit, boss," Johnten Drago said. "I mean, the one that looks like you _did_ tell us our own story, and-" He stopped short as Doctor Stable walked into the room, smiling pleasantly.

Traev was not willing to be fooled by the pony's positive bedside manner, and he countered that smile with a sullen glare. "Well doc," he deadpanned, "what's the prognosis? Are we terminal now?"

"As a matter of fact," Doctor Stable said with professional courtesy, "you are all free to go, provided you can reach the door without falling over." He gathered the charts off the ends of the bed, stood off to one side, leveled a warning look at Traev, and added, "Do try to remember that this is a hospital, and don't go charging through the halls, ok?"

"Yeah, yeah," Traev grumbled, throwing the sheets off and very carefully easing himself onto the floor. He looked at his teammates, who had also cautiously gotten to their hooves, and then walked to the door with a mind to avoid any embarrassing stumbling, giving the doctor a defiant look until he exited the room. The doctor hid a smirk, glad to have these particular patients out of his mane at last but too professional to show it.

"Finally," Traev said, walking right past the nurses waiting with wheelchairs in the hallway, "freedom. Step lively _mon amis_, we have a lot of lost time to make up for." The trio made their way to the main entrance, walked out into the morning sunlight, and found themselves almost immediately surrounded by Gold Heart, Soul Mage, Gale, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash. "Ah, _skvetch_," Traev swore.

"Sounds like somepony woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Pinkie said cheerily. "I bet it's because you haven't had a good breakfast yet. Well, I can fix that right up, courtesy of Applejack." She went to each former patient in turn, pulling a big red apple out of the pannier she was wearing and putting it in their mouth. "Enjoy!" she said. The three exchanged a look, and then bit down, their eyes going wide with surprise at the flavor. "Good, huh?" Pinkie asked. "AJ's apples are the absolute best apples you'll ever taste. There's more if you want, but," she removed the pannier and passed it to Gold Heart, and then bounced away, calling back, "I have to go schedule your party now, so see you later!"

Johnten Drago finished his apple quickly and then asked, "What party?"

"Your 'welcome' party, of course," Rainbow Dash said.

"We don't have time to waste on frivolous partying," Traev said, trying to walk away, but the Order-naries blocked his path with "tsk"-ing expressions on their faces.

"Ponyville Rule number one," Gold Heart said, "if you're new to town and Pinkie Pie has just met you, she _will_ throw a party to welcome you."

"Rule number two," Soul Mage continued, "if you are Pinkie Pie's friend, she will throw parties to commemorate your birthday, anniversaries, recent accomplishments, surviving mortal danger, and any other reason that may occur to her."

"Rule number three," Gale contributed, "if you have been in Ponyville for any significant length of time, you will be considered one of Pinkie Pie's friends."

"_Look_, you," Traev said angrily, "I have had just about enough of your treating us like some simple, ignorant newcomers. This is not game."

"No, it isn't," Soul answered with dead seriousness, looking the ash-grey unicorn square in the eye. "I don't know how you're used to things working, Mr. Traev Maestro Brogalio, but in this world, and especially in this town, nothing important goes down without the powers that be at least being made aware of it. Even now, Twilight Sparkle is sending a letter to Princess Celestia informing her about you and what we know about your quest. We can count on some help from that quarter, and you can certainly count on us to lend you every resource we can spare to help you."

Traev had hardened his glare when Soul locked eyes with him, but as the golden-yellow unicorn continued to hold his gaze and speak clearly and confidently his composure broke and he backed away a few steps in fear. "H-how…" he stammered. "My eyes. You…"

Soul smirked. "So, you did have that fear-gaze trick too," he said. "Five points for Ash. That doesn't work with pony physiology, so just forget about relying on it while you're here."

"And how is it that you know this?" Carrie Chen asked, genuinely curious.

"You haven't realized it yet?" Gale asked, quirking an eyebrow. "We, that is, Heart, Soul, Ash, and I, are human as well. We know, or can at least make very educated guesses, about how to get you three accustomed to your new forms so that you don't become a meal for the next predator that stands between you and a Gem." She held out a hoof invitingly. "Let us help you."

Traev looked reluctant, but when his companions both stepped up with accepting nods, he sighed and nodded as well. "Make this worth my while," he said.

* * *

Twilight had roped off an area near the library and was standing guard with Ash and Spike for company. The ash-grey unicorn was casually balancing the Diamond of Light on a hoof. "Do you think they'll actually come?" Twilight asked.

"It's simply a question of when," Ash said confidently. "I had the same stubborn, untrusting, go-it-alone attitude my double seems to have way back in the day, and I still found myself forming a team with the twins and Gale. Those kids could talk a dragon into giving part of its hoard to them if they had a mind to."

"Want to bet?" Spike asked.

"Sure," Ash said with a shrug. "Fifty bits to a gemstone-encrusted entrée of your choice. Sound good?" He flipped the Diamond onto his back and held out his hoof to shake.

"Yeah, sounds good," Spike said, shaking on it.

"Seriously, you two?" Twilight said, looking disapprovingly at Spike.

"Hey, it's just some harmless fun Twi," Spike said defensively. Rarity came trotting up the lane just then, wearing a pretty burgundy gown accented by a necklace comprised primarily of small gemstones held together by gold and copper wire, and Spike's attention was immediately arrested. "Wow, Rarity," he said dreamily, "You look good."

"What, this old thing?" Rarity said, dismissively. "Thank you Spike, but I'm afraid it's a bit out of date. The only reason I'm wearing it is because it's the only thing I've made that comes close to going with these." She removed her necklace and pulled another, less well-made one from somewhere within the folds of the gown and floated them both to Ash. "There you are Ash," Rarity said, "I brought both the original and the updated model, just in case one of them is too aligned to you for anypony else to use."

"Thank you, Rarity," Ash said, taking the necklaces and looking them over. The necklaces were the prototype of Ash's magic enhancing necklace and the aesthetic "upgrade" Rarity had insisted on making immediately after the design had proven feasible. "To be honest, I'm surprised you kept these," Ash said. Rarity looked surprised at his words, and then slightly dejected. "Oh," Ash said, catching the cues, "I see. Mementos of us."

"I hope you don't mind," Rarity said, nervously.

"I don't," Ash said, suddenly feeling awkward. He started shifting about as if debating whether or not to say more, or give the white unicorn a hug or other gesture of kindness, until he caught sight of something down the road. "Ah," he said, relieved at the chance to change the subject, "and here come our students now."

Watching the alternate Order-naries walk alongside their doubles provided Ash and Twilight an opportunity to observe and identify the subtle differences between the two groups. Soul Mage naturally gravitated toward his sister, walking perfectly in step with her, and the twins had their heads slightly inclined toward one another, as if to always keep each other in their peripheral vision. Johnten Drago seemed to lag a step behind whoever was nearest him, glancing about in arbitrary directions from time to time and casting an envious look at his double at least once. Gale walked with absolute confidence in every step, and with a grace that hinted at her untapped potential to be a dancer or gymnast rather than the mechanic she was. Her double, Carrie Chen, had none of that grace and an overabundance of suspicion in the way she walked and took in the sights of Ponyville. Traev was a little harder to read, since Ash wasn't walking beside him, but Twilight noted a hardness in the newcomer's face which Ash also possessed but usually hid behind a softer mask of trustworthy confidence.

As the group approached, Ash ducked into the roped-off area and stood in the center with the Diamond held under one hoof. "We all know why we're here," he announced, "so I'll cut to the chase. If you want this Diamond, and a chance to seek out the rest of the set, then you can have it _if_ you can take it from me by magic or an equivalent show of talent. Strangers, pair up with the Order-nary you match and let them coach you in being a pony. Hopefully you'll adapt as quickly as we did, because time is a bit of factor here."

"More than you know," Traev said, stepping over the ropes and approaching Ash. Looking back at his companions, he said, "Get this over with," and the group separated. Looking back at Ash, he said, "You and your associates have been making a lot of assumptions. That's quite dangerous."

"Indeed," Ash said with a slow nod. "I should check my facts before we begin, so let's start with that name of yours. I hope you'll pardon me if I'm translating it wrong, but 'traitor' is not the sort of word I'd choose to go by."

"You speak Imperial," Traev said, surprised. "Who are you, anyway?"

"To Equestria, I am Ashen Blaze," Ash answered, "elsewhere, I'm Ash the Pragmagic, and formerly _Meis Thamule_ of the Shadowstar Empire."

"_Meis Thamule_?"

"General, or Supreme, Mage," Ash clarified, giving the other ash-grey unicorn an odd look.

Traev matched the look. "That's what 'Maestron Brogalio' means," he said.

"Ahhh," Ash brightened. "Well, that's another little divergence between your universe and mine then. It also means the approach I was planning to take might actually work." He summoned one of the spare AEoM necklaces over to him and fastened it around Traev's neck. "So tell me, O shameless defector from darkness, does the term 'weaving' mean anything to you?"

* * *

"Where'd you get the name 'Soul Mage'?"

Soul chuckled nostalgically. "I adopted it for a few reasons," he said. "We'd wound up in a world kinda like this one, full of multicolor ponies with equally colorful and descriptive names and decided it would be a good idea to come up with similar names so we'd fit in better. Those ponies were… rather prone to freak-outs. Anyway, my sister here took one look at her coat and decided to go by 'Gold Heart.' I chose Soul Mage partly to complement her alias, and partly to tweak Ash's ear in our long-running debate about what qualifies as 'magic.' Why do you ask?"

"Because, a soul mage is what I am," Johnten Drago said. He lifted his left front hoof and gave it a few hard flicks, looking at it with a concerned frown. "At least," he said, flicking the hoof again, "it's what I was until a couple days ago."

He kept flicking his hoof until Gold Heart pressed her own over it and gave him a look. "That's enough of that," she said sternly, "you're going to injure something. Now, when you say 'soul mage,' are you talking about something similar to this?" She nodded to her brother, and the two touched hooves briefly. From that point of contact, ethereal blue auras spread like flames across both of their bodies, wreathing them in light that was focused most strongly around their front hooves and Soul's horn. Johnten's mouth fell open and he was struck speechless for nearly a minute, until something seemed to catch his ear and he snapped out of it.

"I don't think I've ever seen such a… powerful display," he said. "And you two work together?"

"It's a bond we've had from birth," Soul said, letting the aura fade. "Some people say we're just two halves of the same soul. I don't buy that, personally, but I do know Heart and I are far more powerful together than we are individually. So, is your gift similar?"

"Possibly," Johnten said uncertainly. "I can tell that power comes directly from your own spirits, as does mine, but… Well, I've never seen a soul link formed between two living mages; it's just not possible. Do… you have any dealings with unembodied spirits, by any chance?"

"What, you mean ghosts?" Soul asked, quirking an eyebrow. Johnten nodded.

"Rarely," Heart answered. "It's in our power to send them to wherever they're supposed to go, but those we've met weren't inclined to go willingly. Or to be cooperative in any other way..."

"Our skills are very different then," Johnten said. "I can do a few things on my own, but mostly I unlock and empower special abilities in ghosts, or have them grant me their power for a time." He sighed and looked down at his left hoof again. "None of that's worth anything if I can't even get my soul fire to ignite in the first place though."

"You have a horn," Soul said, pointing. "It may feel odd, but try focusing your power through it. Unicorn horns are designed to channel magic, but spirit power works just as well." He demonstrated by stretching a tendril of ethereal blue energy out of his own horn and moving it around. Johnten watched him for a moment, and then looked up at his horn, eyes squinting tight in concentration. He started mumbling strange words that sounded almost recognizable to Heart and Soul, the same short string of phrases again and again with increasing effort and frustration in his voice, until suddenly his ear twitched to the left. He relaxed, and an ethereal blue aura appeared around his horn.

"So, that's it then," he said, satisfied.

"I hope your personal abilities will be enough," Heart said, "because I've never seen any ghosts floating around Equestria."

"That won't be a problem," Johnten said. "You clearly can't sense them, but my two… closest partners have been traveling along with us." He coughed into his hoof, suddenly embarrassed. "I… sent one of them to try and get the Diamond last night," he admitted.

"Oh, so that's what happened," Soul said. "Ash told us about that incident. We were worried some other party was trying to get in on the game."

"No, not this time," Johnten said, briefly sheepish but sobering quickly to add, "but I wouldn't discount the possibility. The Gems tend to draw unwanted attention to themselves."

"Don't I know it," Soul said ruefully.

* * *

Carrie Chen walked over to her double, looked her over dubiously, and then looked at herself, and finally asked, "Just what could you possibly teach me?"

"How to move like a pony, for one thing," Gale answered with a patient tone. "Beyond that, well, I guess that depends on your natural talents. I'm the mechanic, general technology buff, and sniper of the Order-naries. What's your role?" Carrie muttered something under her breath. "Come again?" Gale asked, cocking her ears intently.

"Weapons, I guess," Carrie said. She picked up a hoof and looked down at it darkly. "Don't see how I can manage that without fingers though."

"You'd be surprised," Gale said with a wry smirk. "Equestria ponies are surprisingly flexible and dexterous. What sort of weapons though?"

"Anything that uses projectiles," Carrie answered, "I'm a crack shot."

"Perfect," Gale smiled, "I might have just the thing for you then. It won't do much to tip the balance against Tau'rin, but every little bit helps."

"Who's Tau'rin?" Carrie asked with a quizzical look.

Caught off-guard by the question, Gale struggled to find the words to answer with. "Uh, the monster connected to the Gems?" she ventured at last. "Brutish, with a bit of a bull motif. Showed up about the same time the Gems started cropping up in your world?"

Realization dawned on Carrie Chen's face, and she shook her head slowly with a small, grim smile. "I think you've confused our Gems with a… remarkably similar set of artifacts, Gale," she said. "The Chaotic Gems have been a part of my world's myths and legends for centuries, and the Bipersonality Team – Traev, Johnten, and I – had been caretakers of the set for several years before the monster we're chasing even showed up. He's linked to the Gems because, to some degree, they created him."

"I… see." Gale remained calm and impassive as she turned away from her double, walked across the instruction area to where Ash was trying without much success to get Traev's horn to maintain a steady glow, and whispered into her grey stallion's ear. "Ash, I think our plans may have a few kinks in them."


	7. Chapter 6: Old Faces, New Stories

Trixie inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of the wild roses growing on the side of the road, touched with the last hint of morning dew. It was a fine accent to the start of what looked to be a perfect day to be on the road, and not even the thought of the eventual destination could ruin it for the azure showmare. The entire troupe, shy little Cabbage Patch included, had opted to walk when they saw how the day had dawned bright and clear, and Barnacle Salt was pulling the stage-wagon.

"Hoofington's a nice town," Harlequin said, to make conversation, "when it's not under the hoof of a crazy, power-drunk pony anyway. If I were to settle down, that might be the place to do it."

"It is," Trixie replied, "if you enjoy timber wolf incursions every couple of weeks and the occasional cockatrice."

"Is it really that bad?" Maggie Pie asked.

"There's a reason the old Great and Powerful Trixie supplemented her bragging with stories of overcoming monsters," Trixie said. "Well, two reasons," she amended after some thought. "The common pony is easily impressed by such tales. Sometimes too much so," she concluded ruefully.

"We've all had bad days," Cabbage said empathetically. Trixie gave her a thankful little smile, until Harlequin ruined the moment with an amused snort.

"Kinda hard to top an Ursa Minor rampage though," he said.

"Quin," Trixie snapped peevishly, "must you?"

A low rumble came from somewhere below, followed by a slight tremor that stirred pebbles on the road and caused everyone to pause briefly, all conversation forgotten. Glances were passed around, and then after a moment of nerve-calming they stepped out again. They'd only gone a few paces when the ground shook again, harder.

"Earthquakes?" Maggie asked.

"Almost unheard of around here," Trixie answered, glancing toward the hazy silhouette of the Everfree Forest on the horizon. "I'd have guessed it's the tremor of an Ursa's footsteps, but I don't think they move during the-" A third, massive quake cut her off, and the road leading back toward Hoofington started to heave and split apart. Trixie and company bolted as the primary crack headed their way, and just managed to get themselves and the wagon off the road as it caught up and extended another few jagged feet before stopping and starting to widen. A head as large as the wagon, made of brown stone and shaped like a bull with wolf fangs and far too many big, wickedly sharp horns rose from the center of the rift, attached to a stone body with arms that would put any minotaur to shame, fists like hammers, and powerful-looking legs ending in viciously clawed feet. The earth closed up roughly beneath it, and it glowered down at the ponies with eyes glowing with forest-green light.

"Trixie, I take back what I said," Harlequin said as he stared at the titanic monster in horror. "What this is, it's going to be a lot worse than a rampaging Ursa."

* * *

The crash-course in "how to pony" was called short, and within twenty minutes the main room of the Ponyville Library was occupied by the six Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, the four Order-naries, the three members of the so-called Bipersonality Team, and Spike, armed with a quill pen and letter parchment. Twilight Sparkle stood in the center of the room, with the two sets of out-worlders on opposite sides of the room, and her friends gathered around and on the stairs. Twilight was wearing the tiara holding the starburst gem representing her Element, to give her an extra air of authority above that which her wings and horn typically gave her.

"All of us here have been jumping to a lot of conclusions over the past few days," she said in her best lecturing tone, looking at each group in turn. "The fact that these three," she indicated Traev, Johnten, and Carrie, "look nearly identical to the Order-naries, ponies that my friends and me are very familiar with, led to a case of mistaken identity and a lot of confusion. They assumed they could manage well enough on their own after waking up as ponies, and nearly ended up eaten by a manticore. Worst of all, we've all been making assumptions about the Gems that these three are hoping to seek out, because we remember a similar experience and applied the knowledge we gained then to now."

"Can we get to the point, please?" Rainbow Dash said boredly from her perch on a window sill.

Twilight shot her a glare for interrupting, and then cleared her throat. "As I was about to say, we can't afford to run about assuming that we all have the same information. So," she turned and pointed at Traev, "you are going to start from the beginning and tell us everything that pertains to the Chaotic Gems and what is after them besides you. Spike, take notes so we can send Princess Celestia a revised summary of the situation."

"Right," Spike said, putting quill to paper in preparation.

"Johnten is the best storyteller among us," Traev said, nodding to his golden-yellow teammate.

Johnten stepped forward and began to speak. "The story actually begins with our very first year as the Bipersonality Team," he said. "We started out by taking down a group of terrorists masquerading as professional exorcists. One of their number was particularly fanatical, and when their leader died he vowed revenge against us. He started seeking out the Chaotic Gems, and we, of course, tried to stop him. We managed to secure most of the Gems at first, but by some twist of fate he managed to steal them all from us, and initiated his plan by activating all seven at once."

"How big of an explosion would that have caused?" Ash asked.

"Universe-shattering," Traev answered gravely.

"That's a little hard to swallow," Ash scoffed.

"The legends may have been exaggerating, a little," Johnten admitted. "At any rate, we managed to interrupt his ritual by removing the Diamond of Light, and the energy fed back into his body and presumably annihilated him. Years went by, and we had other adventures, the biggest of which tending to get the Gems involved, but we thought no more of the insane Soul Crusher, until one day when four of the Gems vanished. We tracked them to the location of his demise in time to witness the creation of a monster that seemed to embody the power of the elements and the man's hatred for us and his desire for revenge. He calls himself Vanatos Unisco now, and his power has proven great enough to cross dimensions, and to attract the Chaotic Gems."

"So," Traev cut in, "the longer we sit around not tracking them down ourselves, the more likely it is he'll get one and set something disastrous in motion."

* * *

"Go, go, go!"

"We're giving it all we've got Cap'n!" Harlequin exclaimed over the pounding of his and Barnacle Salt's hooves on the road, the rattle of wheels from the wagon they were pulling, and the avalanche-like growling of the giant rock monster chasing them. Trixie was standing on the wagon's roof, horn glowing brightly as she tried to deflect the rocks that seemed to fly from the monster's body as it moved. Inside, Maggie and Cabbage were scrambling about looking for fireworks and pyrotechnic cannons, which they set up in the rear-facing doorway, aiming at the monster.

"You can start shooting any time you want Trixie," Maggie called up with desperation as she secured a rocket in place.

"I know," Trixie shouted back, grunting as she caught a rock and directed it to the left, "I just need – _ugh_ – an opening first!"

* * *

"The Gems represent the seven magic elements, right?" Twilight asked. Traev nodded. "And those elements are?"

"Fire, water, air, earth, light, darkness, and Aether, also known as thunder in some schools," Ashen Blaze answered automatically, but then clapped a hoof over his mouth with an apologetic look.

"Those are them," Traev said, nodding at his double, who relaxed and smirked.

"Ok, I just wanted to make sure of that," Twilight said. She turned to Spike just as his cheeks bulged out and then let out a belch of fire that formed into a scroll bearing the royal seal.

Spike expertly plucked the scroll out of the air and opened it. "Dear Princess Twilight," he read, "Thank you for alerting us to this most interesting of occurrences. We have full confidence in your ability to manage the situation, but if you require anything do not hesitate to contact us. Best of luck, and write back at your leisure. Signed Princess Celestia and Princess Luna."

"_Princess_ Twilight?" Carrie exclaimed.

"The title goes with the wings and horn," Gale said lightly. "It's not really that big of a deal."

"Hey, it's a _huge_ deal!" Rainbow said confrontationally. She flew down and got right up in Gale's face, asking, "Do you know how many ponies have actually become alicorns in the history of… ever? One, and that's Twilight."

"Ok, ok, I'm sorry," Gale said, backing away with her forehooves held up placatingly.

"Down, Rainbow," Twilight said, off-handedly. "Ash," she said, "I may have asked this already today, but do you have any leads yet?"

"There was a possible hit in the Everfree Forest this morning," Ash said.

"Well then," Traev said, starting for the door, "point the way and we'll get after it."

Ash intercepted him and said, "You're not going anywhere until I see some magic out of you. That forest is crawling with monsters, and the manticore isn't even the worst of them."

"Give me the Diamond," Traev replied in a longsuffering tone, "I can make do with that."

"And how are you going to carry it?" Ash countered, quirking an eyebrow. "Telekinesis, at the very least, before you go into danger. Soul, Gale, are your duplicates ready?"

"Once we've made a stop at the _Lirin_ to gear up, yes," Gale said.

"I think so," Soul said.

"Good," Ash said, his gaze still locked on Traev. "At least two-thirds of your team will be involved then. Along with the twins, Gale, and whoever of the Element Bearers wants to assist, that should be more than enough, right?"

Traev glowered, but since Ash refused to back down or break eye contact with him, he reluctantly gave up. "Be careful, you guys," he said to his teammates, "and bring that Gem back personally."

* * *

A short time later, both teams, along with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, arrived at the _Lirin_. "Impressive ship," Traev said with admiration.

Ash glanced at his double, and when he saw a look of sincerity on Traev's face, he smiled proudly. "It's nothing really," he said, "just a… actually, it _isn't_ standard anymore. It _was_ a mere long-range transport craft at one time, but it's been upgraded with the ability to re-open interdimensional portals and survive the trip through the void between worlds."

Johnten Drago was also impressed by the _Lirin_. "Why couldn't you have grabbed something like this Traev?" he asked. "Just by looking at it, I can tell it's a far superior ride to those death-trap orbital drop pods we had to use."

"Drop pods?" Gale asked.

"Yeah," Johnten said ruefully, "back home, our base of operations was the space station Traev stole when he turned to the good, and unless we were going somewhere Traev had established a teleportation waypoint already, we had to use the drop pods to get on and off."

"Hold on," Ash said, turning to face Traev, "you absconded with an entire _space station_? Alone?"

"Technically, it's more of a battle cruiser," Traev answered. "And yes, alone."

"I don't know whether to be impressed or incredulous," Ash said, bemused. "Anyway," he said, shaking his head and turning back to the _Lirin_, "back to business." He gave the command for the ship to open, and gestured gallantly for Gale and Carrie to proceed inside. The brown earth pony pair walked up the ramp, and Gale led the way straight to the cargo area. Most of the individual compartments that lined the wall were shut with latches and keypads that would require fingers, or a telekinetic substitute, to open, but two had been modified with a simpler, larger lock that Gale was able to manipulate with her mouth. From within, she pulled out what could only be described as a gun saddle; a medium-sized cannon rode on the right side of the harness, counterbalanced by a metal ammo pack on the left.

"Hold still," Gale instructed, and proceeded to fit Carrie into it, tightening the girth straps and adjusting the position of the firing bit with expertise. "Perfection," she said when she was done. "Not only do you look like me, you're exactly my size. Now, let me explain what this is and how it works. This saddle is an equestrian version of my signature weapon: an air-powered cannon that fires a variety of specially formulated gels."

"What types do you use?" Carrie asked.

"Well" Gale said, "the one you'll likely be using the most is Magebane. It shuts down any magic it comes in contact with, good for breaking spells and disabling any magical creatures. There are a fair number of those around here."

"Ah, Thaumic Gel," Carrie said with an appreciative nod, "I'm familiar with it. It's not my first preference though. Do you have anything with a paralyzing shock?"

"I think so," Gale said, opening the ammo pack and looking inside. The pack was divided into three compartments, and Gale pulled a ball of bluish gel out of the middle one. "This is it, the Shock Gel. It's formulated specifically for humans though, so I wouldn't rely on it against anything large, if I were you. Don't know how ponies react to it, either. Where'd you get your hands on a gel launcher in your world?"

"It's a glorified potato gun," Carrie answered flatly.

"Eh heh… right," Gale chuckled, embarrassed. "The gels and launcher are a unit in my mind, so… Where'd your gel come from, is what I meant?"

"Developed them myself, somehow," Carrie said. "It's hard to explain, but the ideas just sort of… popped into my head when I needed a way to pull my own weight on the team." Gale gave her a dubious look, but didn't press for more details. Instead, she simply went over the mechanics of operating the gun saddle. "Sorry if it takes more coordination than you're used to," she said in conclusion.

"I'll manage," Carrie said confidently. "What about you though?"

"I'll manage," Gale echoed, just as confidently. "I spent most of my time in Equestria without that thing, so I'm used to hoof combat." She went to the cockpit, retrieved PC, and then led the other brown mare back outside, nodding at the waiting group. "We're all set here," she said, "let's go."

* * *

Cabbage and Maggie covered their eyes as a rocket ignited and flew with a high-pitched whistle to explode in a spectacular burst of blue and white light against the face of the stone monstrosity. It slowed slightly in its pursuit, as the lights of is eyes flickered, but it recovered within seconds and slammed the road with a fist, sending a wave along that ground that tossed the wagon into the air. Everpony screamed and held on for dear life as they sailed through the air and landed with a shuddering crash. Miraculously, no one was thrown off and the wheels and axels remained intact. Barnacle and Harlequin quickly found their hooves again and launched back into a full gallop.

"I don't think this is working!" Maggie shouted, leaning out of the door to look up at Trixie. There were more empty rigs in the doorway than rockets now, which Trixie noted with consternation. With a struggle, she focused her magic into a teleportation spell and warped inside the wagon, leaving a slight scorch mark on the roof and the smell of ozone around her.

"You're right," she said to the grey earth pony. "We can't handle this without help, and we're still too far from Ponyville. Cabbage Patch, how fast can you fly?"

"H-huh?" Cabbage stuttered.

"You're a Changeling," Trixie pressed, "That means you have wings, right? Please tell me they actually work."

"Th-they do," Cabbage said. "But-"

"Can you fly faster than we're moving right now?" Trixie asked. Cabbage, nodded, still confused. "Good, Trixie said. "Fly ahead to Ponyville and get us some help. Hurry!"

"But, I can't show myself to them!" Cabbage protested. "Nopony would ever trust a Changeling!"

"We don't have much a choice," Trixie insisted. "We can't send Barnacle, or we'll lose what little bit of a lead we have on that thing, and nopony else in this wagon can fly! Please Cabbage Patch," she pleaded, "I'm counting on you."

Cabbage Patch cringed, fearful and unsure, until the rock monster attacked again and the wagon shuddered. "Oh," she moaned, squeezing her eyes shut, "all right, I'll do it." In a brief flare of sickly green light, she shed her sea-green pony form in exchange for the black chitin, perforated legs, and insectoid wings of a Changeling. Only her golden eyes remained unchanged, and they quivered with fear and anxiety as she walked to the door of the wagon. "Please be safe," she said to Trixie and Maggie, "and promise we'll see each other again."

"The same to you," Trixie said sincerely. Cabbage's wings buzzed as she prepared to take off, and as soon as there was a chance she took off, turning around almost instantly to speed ahead of the wagon.

"At least she'll be safe now," Maggie said just before the wagon lurched again and came down with an ominous-sounding crack. "Now what about the rest of us?"

"The stallions can't run forever, and my fireworks aren't effective enough," Trixie said, but with a conviction in her tone that stood at odds with the words. Reaching into the supplies with her magic, she extracted a small locked box that Maggie instantly recognized from the day before. "The Great and Powerful Trixie needs to become more so," the azure showmare said, solemnly opening the box and removing the amulet contained within. "I just hope I handle the cost."


	8. Chapter 7: Trouble Arrives

The Everfree Forest was always a dark, foreboding place that seemed to constantly be waiting to reach out and consume any ponies that dared cross its borders, but that atmosphere felt a trifle subdued to the group of seven ponies who had entered in search of a Chaotic Gem. This was likely due to the fact that only one of them, Fluttershy, was displaying any signs of fear, and even that was subdued. Rainbow Dash was as brashly confident as ever. Heart, Soul, and Gale were familiar with the dangers of the woods, and found them no more remarkable than anything else they had experienced. Johnten Drago and Carrie Chen seemed completely unfazed by the memory of their previous, disastrous experience with the forest. The fact that Carrie had a small cannon strapped to her back probably had an effect on the general feeling of security as well.

Gale led the way through the forest, following the signal PC had detected the best that she could, given the terrain. They'd come upon an unusually wide trail that went in the right general direction, but it twisted about a bit and there were the occasional wind-felled trees and short cliffs to navigate around. Early attempts at conversation had failed quickly due to the forest's inherent oppressiveness as well as Johnten and Carrie's disinterest in learning much about the wildlife, and so the group walked in silence, eyes casting about for danger or hints of the Gem's hiding spot.

Eventually, Soul grew tired of the quiet and directed a question at Rainbow Dash. "How's Zecora doing lately? She's still around, I assume."

"Yeah, she's still here," Rainbow said. "Still brewing potions and being all mystic and zebra-y."

"Zebra-y?" Johnten asked.

"Yep," Soul answered. "Zecora's a zebra who lives here in the forest, using the exotic plant life to concoct potions and herbal remedies. She's got a bit of a stereotypical witch doctor vibe going, and you shouldn't touch that." He sent out a tendril of spirit energy to pull Johnten's curious hoof away from a patch bright blue flowers. "That'd be poison joak," he explained. "Technically harmless, but with a pretty nasty sense of humor if it gets on you."

"How can a plant have a sense of humor?" Carrie asked, looking askance at the blooms.

"It changes something about you," Fluttershy said. "It's… usually embarrassing, and different for every pony." The rustling of leaves caught everyone's attention at that point, and Fluttershy jumped while everyone else froze until a grey and black striped equine with a striped Mohawk and gold jewelry emerged onto the path. "Oh, Zecora," Fluttershy said in relief, "we were just talking about you."

"I know," Zecora said with a twinkle in her eye, "I heard your voices and came to see what your business is in this part of Everfree." She looked more closely at the group and commented, "And it seems the rumors I heard in town were true: the Order-naries appear to have been multiplied by two."

"Aw, we're still only at the rumor phase?" Soul Mage sounded disappointed. "I was hoping to have the fan-fillies swarming me by Thursday. I'll have to step up my game." He grinned his trademark goofy grin as Gold Heart gave him a light smack upside the head with her wing. Gale tried to hide her own smirk by lowering and shaking her head, while Johnten and Carrie just looked perplexed.

Johnten cleared his throat. "Uh, Ms. Zecora, ma'am?" he asked. "You haven't by chance noticed anything strange around here lately, have you? Weird lights, fires, animals behaving strangely?"

"To pony eyes, this whole forest is strange," Zecora answered in mock-dismissal, and then finished more seriously, "I have seen nothing of note in my normal range."

"No worries," Heart said, "we know the direction to travel; we'll just have to be surprised at what we find. Have a good day Zecora." Taking that as their cue, the group started to move off again, but Zecora fell into step with them instead of returning to her own business.

"I have nothing more pressing to do," she said, "than to do what I can to assist you."

"Glad to hear it," Rainbow said. Fluttershy relaxed a trifle, although the trees grew thicker and closer together as they pressed along the path.

The trail dipped downward, and up ahead they could see a break in the trees as the ground rose up suddenly and sharply into a hill that was more rock than dirt. "We should tread with greater care," Zecora said with a wariness that put everyone on edge, "I believe this is where a dragon makes its lair."

"D-dragon?!" Fluttershy squeaked, freezing in place, terrified. Rainbow Dash sighed and doubled back to tend to her friend.

"What's her deal?" Johnten asked. "Isn't Twilight's assistant a dragon?"

"A baby dragon raised in a pony society," Soul answered. "Flutters has problems with the full-grown, solitary, and technically 'wild' variety. I've never met one of those up close, but they can get pretty big, so I don't blame her for being scared."

With some goading from Rainbow, Fluttershy managed to shake off enough fear to squeak out, "T-the Gem isn't i-i-in the… dragon's lair, is it?"

"Hopefully not," Gale said, looking around slowly so PC could reorient on the signal, "but it does seem to be in the general direction of the hill. We'll move slowly." They did so, following the trail around the rocky hill and past the partially hidden mouth of a cave in its side. They began to move away from the hill, but then Gale stopped, turned around slowly, and grimaced. "We passed it," she said. "It's probably in the cave. Which is most likely the dragon's lair, right Zecora?" The zebra nodded grimly, and Fluttershy bolted, hiding behind the nearest tree.

"Well, she's useless now," Rainbow said, somewhat irritated. "Somepony should probably just take her home, or at least keep an eye on her. Any volunteers?"

"Not it," Johnten and Carrie said at once, and walked right into the cave.

"Gutsy or stupid, this lot," Soul grumbled as he went after them, Heart following after giving the others an apologetic shrug.

"I will stay with Fluttershy," Zecora offered, "and calm her nerves in case we need to fly."

"You're the best Zecora," Rainbow Dash said, glad for not needing to come up with some way to spare her image as both loyal friend and fearless dragon-face-kicker. She and Gale trotted into the cave side by side, hustling a little to catch up with the others. Gale pulled slightly ahead of the group as Soul ignited his horn to chase away the shadows that deepened just a few feet past the mouth of the cave. Johnten copied him, mostly to practice doing it, and the ethereal blue auras cast everything in a somewhat chilling light.

"Next time we do this, we bring a proper unicorn or a flashlight," Soul Mage announced flatly.

"I knew I forgot to pack something before we left Taryn," Gale muttered in response.

"Y'know, there _is_ a dragon in here, guys," Rainbow hissed.

"Indeed there is," a deep voice rumbled from the depths of the cave. Everypony froze as the green head of the cave's occupant, a single one of its eyes alone as large as a pony, entered the blue sphere of light around the group. "It has good ears," the dragon said, "and does not take kindly to intruders."

* * *

Ashen Blaze and Traev butted heads, growling at each other with their matching green eyes nearly ablaze. Twilight stood nearby, greatly distressed by the anger pouring off the two grey stallions, but hesitant to try and intervene. She was fairly certain she could subdue Ash if he went ballistic, but she wasn't sure what the collateral damage would be. As the stand-off between the matching mages continued, Twilight started preparing a force-field to separate and contain them, just in case.

"You're getting on my last nerve," Traev warned his double, "and you don't want to see me truly angry."

"I might," Ash retorted, narrowing his eyes, "if losing your temper is what it'll take to get your magic working."

"The problem isn't my magic," the other ash-grey stallion said, "it's got to be the world, or this _hands-free_ form I'm trapped in."

Ash pulled his head away and rubbed it in an effort to calm himself. "_Nicht goh chiu,_" he said,"if the _skvetchte_ _Meis Thamule-_"

"Maestron Brogalio," Traev corrected.

"Same thing," Ash said crossly. "If you seriously can't do any magic without a focus item like your cards, I can't help but question your right to the title."

Something changed in Traev at that moment. All his agitation vanished in a second, but his eyes grew even harder and his mane and tail stiffened noticeably, the red and orange hairs now resembling spikes more than flames. Ash noted the change with seeming indifference, although he did back up a step or two.

"Guys," Twilight ventured, "maybe we should take a break?"

Ash glanced over at her, with a calm smile on his face. "I think you're right Twilight," he said. "I think Pinkie Pie has some things she wants to discuss with Traev here anyway."

"Wow!" Pinkie sprang into view from behind Twilight, landing lightly next to Ash and giving him a pleasantly amazed smile. "How'd you know?" she asked. "I mean, I wasn't trying to be sneaky, but it looked like I was going to make a 'pop out of nowhere and surprise everypony' entrance."

"You weren't being sneaky," Ash said by way of answer, and then turned to walk over to Twilight.

"Ashen Blaze," Traev said in a growl.

"Cool off," Ash told him dismissively, "I wasn't issuing a challenge. I have nothing to gain from that sort of contest."

Traev let out a long, heavy breath through his nose, every part of him except his eyes relaxing, and then turned those eyes on Pinkie and asked, "Did you want something from me?"

"Yep," Pinkie said brightly. She pulled a small notebook and pencil out of her mane and asked, "What's your favorite type of cake? Oh, and your friends' favorites as well, if you know them. Or maybe you prefer pies, or something else? I want to be sure you'll find something to enjoy at your welcome party."

"Ugh, spare me the nonsense," Traev said, turning away, "we don't have any time for frivolity."

"Aw, come on," Pinkie said, bouncing in front of the grumpy grey pony, "you can't be serious all the time. What's the point of seeing new places, meeting new ponies, and finding magic gems if you don't-" She stopped suddenly as her tail started quivering. "Twitchy tail!" she announced, stepping quickly to the side and pointing her eyes at the sky. Ash and Twilight both looked up as well, scanning the skies fervently.

"There!" Ash called out, pointing. A dark equine figure was approaching quickly from above, and by the limp way its head hung and the apparent lack of flapping wings, it seemed unlikely to make a safe landing without assistance. Twilight reacted quickly, flying up and conjuring up a large cloud to catch the falling pony, and then brought the cloud and pony down to the ground.

"Good work Pinkie, Ash," she said. "Now, who is this?" She finally took a good look at what she had rescued and backed away with a gasp, dismissing the magically created cloud and letting the black, chitin-covered creature drop onto the hard ground. "A Changeling!" Pinkie gasped, and Ash lit up his horn, one hoof held poised to sketch a spell, waiting for the Changeling to act.

"What is a changeling?" Traev asked.

"Shape shifter," Ash answered shortly.

"They kidnap and impersonate ponies to feed off of love," Twilight elaborated. Traev gave her a strange look, but decided to just roll with it.

The Changeling moaned quietly and stood up, blinking open bright, golden, normal-looking eyes, and then leaped back with a yelp from the set of unicorn horns pointed threateningly at it. "Mercy! Mercy please!" it pleaded, dropping to its front knees in a bow. "I don't mean any harm!" It glanced up, recognized Twilight, and then returned its gaze firmly back to the dirt as it continued, "T-Twilight Sparkle, please believe me: Trixie and the others are in trouble and we need your help, quickly!"

"Who are you, and how do you know Trixie?" Twilight asked.

The Changeling looked at her perforated legs, sighed, and in a flash of green fire transformed into a sea-green earth pony with a blue mane and tail and the same golden eyes, which she fixed pleadingly on Twilight. "I'm Cabbage Patch," she said, "part of the troupe. Please, you have to help. We were being chased by this… this huge rock monster, and Trixie sent me to get help. Trixie was running out of rockets, and it might already be too late!" If she weren't already bowed, her knees might have given way, and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Rock monster?" Traev asked, intrigued. "What kind of rock monster?"

Cabbage's eyes gleamed with faint hope, and she described the giant stone monstrosity as best she could. "And it had eyes that glowed with an eerie green light. Not green like my shape shifting though; darker, like leaves."

"Does that sound familiar?" Traev asked Twilight.

"There's nothing like that in Equestria," the lavender alicorn replied skeptically.

"I'd say that bears investigation then," Traev said. "It could be a Gem."

"Hold," Ash said. He grabbed his double lightly by the neck in his magic and pulled him off to the side slightly. "Did you not get the part where this thing is a shape shifter?" he asked. "By their very nature they're duplicitous and untrustworthy."

"Take care when you generalize," Traev said, "A couple of close friends of mine happen to be shape shifters. Besides, this one came to us openly, and that monster she described sounds like something Vanatos might whip up with a Gem in hand."

"But why attack Trixie, of all ponies?" Ash asked, turning back to Cabbage. "You," he said to her, "did Trixie acquire any strange magical items lately?"

"Yes," Cabbage answered, perking up a bit more. "We'd taken the alicorn amulet from Tremolo and were bringing it here, just like you told Trixie to, Princess Twilight. The monster attacked us on the road."

"Well, it's true enough that I asked Trixie to bring me that amulet once she'd got it," Twilight said, "but you could have easily gotten that information out of her before turning on her. For all I know, you made up the monster just to lure me out into a trap, with the Changeling Queen herself using that amulet to overpower me."

"But I'm not…" Cabbage started to protest, but then sighed and flopped to the ground sadly, returning to her Changeling form and letting the hopeless tears flow. "I knew this wouldn't work. Trixie was just trying to save me. I should've stayed with them. Now… now I'll never see Trixie, or Maggie, or Barnacle Salt ever again!" She bawled loudly and with such genuine emotion that Twilight, Pinkie, and Ash felt touched despite themselves.

"Maybe," Pinkie ventured hesitantly, "maybe she's telling the truth? I've never seen a Changeling cry like this."

"Tears can be faked," Ash noted distantly. "They can be a deceiver's strongest tool for earning pity." Cabbage sniffed, bringing her sobs under control, and looked up at the group with her big, watery, pleading eyes.

Twilight pondered for a moment. "Let's… go talk to Applejack," she said at last. "Hopefully she can tell if this Changeling's telling the truth."

"Fair enough plan," Ash said in agreement. He wrapped Cabbage in his magic and lifted her off the ground. "Lead on," he said to Twilight.

It was a solemn march through the town, with Twilight in the lead, Ash right behind her levitating the despondent Cabbage Patch, and Traev and Pinkie Pie bringing up the rear. Ponies took one look at them and steered well out of their way, respectfully and without drawing attention to themselves. Twilight intended to go to Sweet Apple Acres, where Applejack and her clan were prepping for Applebuck Season, but as the group crossed the town square a triumphal laugh distracted them. Look toward the source, they saw a large enclosed wagon that looked rather abused, hauled by an exhausted pair of ponies – a mustard-yellow earth pony with a tri-colored mane and an older-looking cream pegasus. Riding atop the wagon like it was an elegant throne and she was queen of the world was an azure unicorn with a pale, silvery mane and wearing a black and red amulet sporting a large red jewel in its center. Twilight instantly detoured to intercept the wagon, and the others followed without question. Inside Ash's magic bubble, the golden-eyed Changeling cheered up instantly and spun herself upright, dragonfly wings buzzing happily.

"They're ok!" she cried happily.

The wagon came to a stop as Twilight approached it, and then she took flight up to Trixie's level. "Trixie," she asked sternly, "what's going on here?"

"Fear not, Twilight Sparkle," Trixie said magnanimously, "the Great and Powerful Trixie and her beloved companions have all survived. Trixie is also proud to report that she has vanquished the foul stony spawn of Tartarus that aimed to make a meal of us." She glanced down to see Cabbage looking up with a mixture of relief and concern from within the orange glow of Ash's magic, and said with a wave toward her, "And Trixie sees Cabbage Patch made it here safely as well. You may release her; Trixie vouches for her."

"Take that off," Twilight said, pointing to the alicorn amulet. "Then we'll talk."

Trixie's eye flashed red, and her face screwed up in a scowl for a brief second, but then she shook it off and undid the catch. The amulet slid off her neck, and Twilight plucked it away with her magic, teleporting it to the library with a spell. Trixie swayed slightly and put a hoof to her temple. "I was feeling almost like my old self there for a moment," she said, giving Twilight a weak smile. Twilight's face remained grave as she lifted the showmare off the roof and brought her down to the ground. "All right," Trixie said, sitting down and avoiding the alicorn's eyes, "I know this probably looks bad, but let me explain."

"I'm waiting," Twilight said.

"First," the showmare said, "I will honestly vouch for Cabbage Patch. We all will, especially Barnacle Salt. She _is_ a Changeling, and she hid it from us for a while, but she's never done us or anypony else any harm."

"I told you she was sincere," Traev said smugly.

"You must not have had a _Meis_ of Deception where you came from," Ash grumbled at him.

"As a matter of fact, I did," Traev retorted. "That's how I know the tells."

"Ash," Twilight cut in, "let her go." Ash glowered, but set Cabbage down and released her. She immediately changed into her earth pony form and ran to embrace Barnacle, who had just unhitched himself and Harlequin from the wagon. Maggie Pie emerged from within the wagon, and upon seeing Pinkie braced herself for the expected pouncing hug with a smile. Twilight watched the reunions for a second, and then noticed Trixie was staring dumbfounded at the matching set of ash-grey unicorns giving each other the evil eye. "Don't worry about them Trixie," she said. "It's a long story. Now, what's this about a rock monster chasing you?"

"Ah," Trixie said, shifting gears. "Twilight, the alicorn amulet may give you delusions of grandeur, but doesn't make you a liar. With the amulet enhancing my power, I did vanquish it. It's laying all across the road between here and Hoofington, in pieces. I don't know what it wanted, but it won't be bothering Trixie's Thespians anymore."

Trixie had no sooner spoken the words when the ground began to split open beneath her. Everypony ran as a great rift formed and a giant, multi-horned stone bull's head emerged, its glowing green eyes searching.

"I hate this town," Trixie groaned, face-hoofing.


	9. Chapter 8: Beware Falling Rocks

"Friend of yours, Traev?" Ashen Blaze asked his double as the bipedal, chimeric rock monster pulled itself out of the hole and towered over the town square.

"I don't recognize it," Traev answered, "but those eyes might be indicative of the Emerald powering it. And here we are, with most of our teams gone and _I can't do magic_."

"Maybe the stress of battle will awaken it," Ash suggested.

"Or maybe you could finally give me the _skvetchte Diamond_," Traev snapped.

Ash took another look at the rock beast, which had finished climbing out and was orienting on Trixie as she and her troupe tried to find cover. "All right, point," he conceded. He started to cast out with his magic, and then realized something. With a face-hoof and a chagrined smirk, he said, "I left it behind at the library. Pinkie! Do me a favor and go get the Diamond from the training area, please?"

"Okie dokie," Pinkie responded, galloping away. With a satisfied nod at that, Ash turned his attention back to the rock monster and sketched a few quick lines on the ground. His horn and gemstone necklace flared, and bolt of energy fired out at the monster's eye and exploded, grabbing its attention.

"Defend, distract, and buy time," Ash said to Twilight, "unless you're tough enough to beat that thing now."

Twilight opened her mouth to answer, but the monster swung one tree-trunk thick arm toward them, so instead she cried, "Watch out!" and threw up a hasty force-field. The blow connected and broke through, only to meet another, slanted orange barrier that deflected it to the side. The ground shook and rippled under the impact, throwing Twilight and the stallions off their hooves. A sound like a distant rockslide came from the creature, and it punched the ground with its other hand, cracking the earth and causing it to buckle and rise up in sharp ridges. One of the ridges rose up beneath the _Lirin_, and the ship rolled over noisily, ending up on its back.

"_Skvetch_!" Ash swore loudly, springing to his hooves and making a beeline for his ship.

"Ash, what are you doing?" Twilight cried after him.

"Sorry Twi," Ash called back, "_have_ to see to this; potential danger. Explain later." Twilight made to run after him, but a rain of rocks from the monster's arms as it moved forced her to stop and put up another shield. Ash dodged and deflected the rocks and reached the _Lirin_, calling out the command to open and trotting in place anxiously as the hatch unsealed and struggled to open against the pull of gravity. As soon as it had opened enough for him to see inside, he teleported in and called out to something. A moment later, Twilight watched in horror as he tumbled out of the ship with some sort of black shadowy thing wrapping around his head and spreading down his neck. He wrestled with it for a moment or two, managed to get most of his face free, and then rolled to his feet and took off in the general direction of the library.

"What just happened there?" Traev asked, dumbfounded. "He abandoned us!"

"He'll be back," Twilight said, trying to sound confident, and failing. She fired a few bolts of magic at the rock creature, leaving small craters in its side and drawing it attention toward her and the impotent grey unicorn. "I just hope it's soon."

* * *

**Come on now, be a good boy and submit. We could work so well together.**

"No deal, Noctus. You aren't ready yet."

**"Not ready?" Who are you to judge me? I've existed far longer than you.**

"Our individual goals don't mesh yet. Besides, I'm not planning on letting you loose on _this_ world, of all places."

**This world? You don't perchance mean… Let me see!**

"Nnng. Stop…"

**Oh! Ha ha ha ha ha! I see. And you are trying to find another bottle to trap me in, aren't you? Well, I refuse.**

"Noctus, you can't leave. I forbid it."

**Try and stop me, little pony**.

Ash's heart lurched painfully and his legs gave out beneath him, which sent him tumbling painfully along the road. As he rolled, the shadow around him tore itself free and flew away like a snake through the air. Ash tried in vain to rise, and his vision became blurred. The last thing he recalled seeing clearly before blacking out was the sinuous shadow starting to fray as it passed through the window of a nearby clock shop.

* * *

Twilight grunted as another boulder bounced off her shield, and then grabbed it and catapulted it back at the monster, striking its arm and creating another small crater and web of cracks that slowly started to fade. The wounds from her initial magic barrage were already gone, and it was all she could do to keep adding more to hold the monster's attention while protecting Traev, who seemed content to stick around and offer only somewhat useful advice. "It's drawing in mass from the ground itself," he said. "As long as it's in contact with its own Element, you're not going to be able to overwhelm it on your own."

"Well I _could_ lift it off the ground," Twilight replied through gritted teeth, "but I can't focus enough magic into that on top of everything else right now."

"One distraction, coming up." Three firework rockets appeared and flew toward the rock beast. Two were intercepted by flying boulders, but the last hits it target and chipped the monster's canine teeth. Twilight glanced toward the source of the rockets and saw Trixie standing nearby with four more floating around her. "Work fast Sparkle," she said, "these are all I have left."

As Twilight prepared to cast a large-scale levitation spell, and as the colossus turned itself to face Trixie, there was a shout from down another street and a beige glob flew up and struck the creature's back. A split-second later, Rainbow Dash zoomed up in the glob's wake and delivered a solid kick to the impact site, penetrating a good few inches and creating a large web of deep cracks all over the monster's back. The creature staggered and roared like an avalanche, and Rainbow easily pulled her leg free and looped down to join the yellow and brown group of ponies that were galloping into the square and heading right for Twilight. Gale led the charge, with Carrie right behind her trying to reload the Gel Launcher on the run, and then Johnten, Gold Heart, Fluttershy, and Soul Mage, who was carrying a large sapphire in his spirit tendril. "Need some help?" Gale asked as she came to a stop next to Twilight and turned her gaze and PC's scanners on the rock monster.

"Yes, thank you," Twilight answered, grinning with relief.

"Where's Ash?" Heart asked.

"Something from your ship got him," Traev answered, gesturing to the over-turned _Lirin_.

"Noctus," Soul said grimly. "Well, one disaster at a time. Here Traev, try putting this to use." He flung the sapphire at the ash-grey unicorn, and it stopped short of his face as an orange aura of magic engulfed it. Traev started to snap at Soul, but then did a double-take and glanced up at his horn, which was also glowing orange.

"Huh," he said.

"All right," Gale said, taking charge, "this thing's got some major magic centered around the head that seems consistent with a Chaotic Gem. Twilight, you get it into the air to cut it off from the reserves we're standing on. We'll try to lighten your load. Spiriters, take out the arms; Carrie, you and Dash work on the legs. Traev and Johnten, do whatever works for you and try not to interfere with us."

"Ok," Johnten said, quirking an eyebrow and looking at Heart and Soul, "but soul energy doesn't have much effect on soulless constructs. Are you sure they can handle their part?"

"Just watch us, solo-soul," Soul Mage responded. He linked his magic to Heart and gave her a nod as their auras formed. "Go get 'em sis."

Heart took to the sky and flew at the rock monster, which was starting to recover from the magebane Rainbow had driven into its back. She brought her hooves close together in front of her, focusing her energy between them into a spinning disc. As it grew, the ethereal blue was joined by red, yellow, and green lights, and then Heart spun herself around and launched the disk, crying, "Element Wheel!"

Johnten's eyes had grown increasingly wide as the Heart prepared her attack, and when she threw it and it enlarged further and cleaved the monster's right arm off at the shoulder, his jaw dropped. He recovered a moment later and smirked, giving himself a light smack to the forehead. "You know, that actually makes perfect sense," he said, and then ignited his own horn with a toss of his head. Raising his eyes to the sky, he called out, "Let's pull our weight, shall we, Seroh? _Sola beend_, and let him have it at full power. Element Wheel." Soul eyed him curiously, and a few seconds later his jaw fell open as a multicolored disk of spirit energy formed in mid-air high above Johnten's head and flew out to remove the monster's other arm just above the elbow.

Meanwhile, Carrie was proving her earlier claim of being a crack shot, peppering the monster's leg with Magebane gels fired from the Gel Launcher, and each strike was followed up by a buck from Rainbow Dash to take advantage of the momentary lack of magic holding the leg together at that point, and at the same time Traev was tapping into the elemental Water power of the Sapphire to assault the other leg with high-pressure jets of water and instantly freezing any water that got into the joints and other cracks. Both legs gave way at roughly the same time, and Twilight managed to take the full weight of the colossus in her magic before it toppled over onto somepony. The ground gave way slightly under her hooves as she fought to lift the dismembered monster, and once the debris of the destroyed legs finished falling away she was holding it steady well above the roofline of the buildings surrounding the square.

"Fantastic work everypony!" Gale called out encouragingly. "Carrie, stop with the Magebane so you don't disrupt Twilight's spell. Everyone else, keep cutting that thing until we find the- _Whoooooaa_!" The earth shook violently, and thick tendrils of green light shot out from the rock monster's stumps, reaching down to the ground and tearing it up to create replacement limbs. The town square began to split apart into little islands of rock and dirt, and the smallest of them quickly crumbled into nothing. The quaking and upheavals threw up a choking cloud of dust.

"Hey, no fair!" Rainbow Dash protested.

"This doesn't seem like typical behavior for a stone golem," Traev shouted over the noise of the quake as everyone tried to back away from the spreading destruction. "There's a real intelligence behind this!"

"What, like something's inside that thing, driving it?" Gale shouted back.

"Yeah, I'm with Traev on this," Soul called out. "That thing's got a brain!"

"Lovely," Gale muttered, and then called to Heart. When the golden-yellow pegasus flew over to her, she passed PC to Heart and said, "Get as close as you can and see if PC can find any life in that thing." Heart nodded and put the computer on her head, but before she could fly off, Johnten held up a hoof and shook his head.

"We've got this," he said. "I'll send one of my ghost partners, and if he finds anything alive inside he can knock it out and shut the whole golem down."

"Be quick about it then," Twilight shouted, the strain of holding the monster aloft visible on her face, "this thing is _heavy_!" Johnten nodded, and then turned to speak to something beside him. The others couldn't hear him over the din, but after a brief moment there was a visible ripple in the dust cloud that seemed quite distinct from all the other swirls and eddies. Everyone followed it with their eyes as long as they could as it traveled to the nearly invisible rock monster reassembling itself at the center of the earthen maelstrom. Tension mounted quickly, and the group had nearly reached the utter edge of the square trying to stay on solid footing, when suddenly everything went still. The dust cloud dispersed, and the rock monster began to rapidly disintegrate, its component stones reduced to dirt that trickled out of Twilight's magical grip. A large emerald burst out of the head and flew toward Traev, seemingly under its own power, although the grey unicorn took it as if accepting it from the hands of another being. The monster finished breaking apart, and all that remained in Twilight's levitation spell was an unconscious red unicorn stallion with an unkempt purple mane and tail. She brought him over to her as she retired with the rest to a more stable patch of ground down the street.

Ponies swarmed around the Order-naries, their doubles, and the rest, thanking and congratulating them on their victory. Those nearest the heroes were quickly upstaged when Trixie and her troupe pushed their way to the front, and stared gob-smacked at the red pony was holding.

"Tremolo?!" Harlequin exclaimed furiously. "_He _was behind this? Why that… I oughta break his horn off for this!"

"You know this pony?" Heart asked.

"He's only the biggest thorn in the side that Trixie has ever had to deal with," Trixie said, fuming. "He's been harassing me and disrupting my shows for years now, ever since I formed the Traveling Thespians."

"How did he even manage this?" Maggie Pie asked. "Trixie only managed to trick him out of the alicorn amulet yesterday, and today he turns into a… rock monster to attack us!"

"Vanatos," Traev said gravely. "I can't quite fathom why, but I'd wager Vanatos gave him the Emerald. Maybe he was hoping to divide our attention, or just cause some wanton destruction and murder."

"And maybe he'll have the answers," Twilight said, gesturing at Tremolo. She whistled shrilly, and pair of ponies in the uniforms of an emergency response team emerged from the crowd. Setting the unconscious Tremolo at their feet, she instructed, "I want this pony locked up with a magic restraint. Come and find me when he's awake and ready to answer questions."

"Yes, your highness." The unicorn in the pair picked Tremolo up, and the crowd parted for them as they left.

"I keep forgetting that you're a princess now, Twi," Soul Mage said, appreciatively.

"Sometimes, I do too," Twilight admitted.

Pinkie Pie came running up through the gap in the crowd with the Diamond of Light nestled snugly in her mane and an expression of great concern on her face. "Finally! Ash is in trouble!" she exclaimed quickly, only slowing down enough to turn around safely before taking off again. Twilight, Heart, Soul, Gale, Fluttershy, and Rainbow followed her, and the crowd parted more to allow them all to pass.

They found Ash laying in the road near the clock shop, down the road from the library. He was curled up and motionless, both forelegs wrapped around his head in an attitude of pain. He didn't respond to anypony's voice as they called out his name, and nudging his shoulders received little reaction either. Finally, Heart and Soul combined their powers and laid glowing hooves on his head, gently pouring their energy into him. Ash snapped awake with a gasp, and then uncurled and sprawled out on his back.

"Are you ok?" Heart asked.

"I'm… actually, I am _not_ fine," Ash said. "_Skvetchte_ construct flipped my ship, and Noctus's flask broke. I tried to contain her again, but she got away."

"Who's Noctus?" Twilight asked.

"The Nightmare," Ash answered. "When I had to extract it from Princess Luna, some figments of personality came with it; mostly the extreme ambition and jealousy. I've been trying to rebuild that personality into something more pleasant, or at least convince her to use her powers to an end that benefits the both of us. Haven't made very much progress yet."

"So, the evil spirit that wants to bring about eternal night in Equestria is on the loose?" Rainbow Dash asked in exasperation. "Geez, first the Gems, now this. What's next?"

"She can't get far without a host," Ash said. "Unless she's in a container magically prepared to sustain her, she'll expend her personal energy and dissolve quickly without bonding to something with the right kind of mindset to feed her. Jealousy, ambition, anger… I think just about any emotion that can be exploited will do." He groaned and rolled onto his front. "Judging by everyone's presence and the relative lack of noise, I assume we've stopped the rock monster?"

"We got the Emerald out of it," Soul said, "along with one dangerously insane pony."

"Good," Ash said. "Those Gems should still take priority, but let me know if anypony in town is found to be missing. If Noctus is smart enough to know she needs a host, she'll have grabbed someone. If possible, I'd like to get her back intact."

"Can I ask why?" Twilight asked suspiciously.

"She may be the key to solving a personal problem of mine back home," Ash answered. "Don't make too much of it though; I would like her back, but if she dies I can just cope."

Twilight sighed and rubbed her eyes. "Let's get everything cleaned up, repaired, and inventoried before we worry about anything else," she said. "And somepony find Spike. I think we're going to need another Princess or two around."

* * *

**Are they gone yet?**

A dark figure, in shape very similar to a typical undisguised Changeling but with softer edges, bright teal eyes with vertical slit pupils, and with a short, mane-like aura made of the night sky flowing from the back of its head, peeked around the back corner of the clock shop until the ponies gathered in front split up to go back to the town square or toward the library. Once the coast was clear, the altered Changeling turned into a wisp of sparkling mist and flew away, out of Ponyville and toward the one destination all Changelings had in their memory.

**That's right. Take me to your leader.**


	10. Chapter 9: After-Action Reports

When all was said and tallied up, it was found that Ponyville had gotten off fairly lightly in the attack. The town square was an absolute disaster area of course, more crater than ground and every free-standing structure within it, such as Town Hall, had been obliterated, but the damage hadn't even touched the foundations of the surrounding buildings. Walls and roofs had been damaged by flying rocks, but it was nothing Ponyville's experienced repair and construction crews hadn't seen before. Teams of pegasi that had been sent to investigate Trixie's story of the battle on the road reported miles of destruction that grew worse the farther south toward Hoofington they went. Every citizen and visitor in Ponyville had been accounted for, with only a few minor injuries reported, although the clock maker, Sepia Tock, had been found unconscious in his basement, covered in sticky green slime and babbling about Changelings.

At Twilight's request, Princess Celestia had come down from Canterlot with a cohort of Royal Guards to provide what assistance they could, but ultimately they mostly stood back and watched as Ponyville managed itself. After some squabbling and debate, Traev, Ash, and Twilight each used the Emerald of Earth in turn to restore the town square – the stallions doing the heavy work of fusing the dirt and stone back into single, solidly integrated unit and Twilight getting the topography back to its original state and ensuring it could be worked by mundane means later to lay the foundation for a new Town Hall. Tremolo had awakened in a violent temper, and by the time Twilight and Celestia had arrived to question him his guards were of the opinion he was certifiably insane. When all he did during the interrogation was rant about Trixie and the need to "make her pay," the Princesses were inclined to agree with the assessment, and Celestia ordered Tremolo to be taken to a secure ward in a Manehatten hospital for treatment and kept under constant supervision.

Trixie's wagon had been another casualty of the destruction, although almost everything of importance to the showmare and her troupe's acts had been recovered when the ground was repaired. Celestia, acting as a proxy to her sister, commissioned the construction of a new stage-wagon for the troupe, and the troupe accepted, over Trixie's protests, the offers of room and board in town until the wagon was finished.

One of the last things to be seen to was the _Lirin_. Celestia added her power to Ash and Twilight's in righting the craft and setting it gently back on its landing struts, and then Gale wasted no time in rushing inside with PC to check the damage. Celestia noticed Ash hadn't gone in himself and asked why. "As I understand it, this is yours more than anyone else's."

"I'd just be in the way," Ash replied. "PC knows what's supposed to do what, and Gale's the one who'll wind up doing most of the repairs. I'm not much use when it comes to technology."

"I just hope it doesn't need anything replaced that we can't get around here," Soul Mage said. "This is our ride home after all."

"You guys don't have to hang around and watch, you know," Gale called out from within the ship. "Make sure our doubles aren't getting into trouble. I'll come find you later."

"I'll save you some food if we find dinner," Heart called back. Celestia and Twilight walked with the twins and Ash as they headed toward the library. Immediately after the town square had been repaired, the Bipersonality Team had taken the Diamond, Emerald, and Sapphire and went off on their own and hadn't been seen since. Ash and the others could only hope they'd merely retired to some familiar landmark like the library, rather than going off on their own to stumble into some new kind of trouble outside Ponyville. A few blocks from the library, they encountered Rarity coming from the other direction, looking quite miffed. When she saw the group, and Ash in particular, she picked up her pace slightly with a loud sigh of relief, but her expression barely changed. Whatever was frustrating her evidently weighed so heavily on her mind that the sight of Princess Celestia hardly registered, since she didn't stop or bow to the great white alicorn. Instead, she went straight to Ash and leaned against him lightly.

"Problem, Rarity?" Ash asked, slowing and accepting the weight.

"I'm having less of one now that I've found you," Rarity said sweetly. "It's that other one, Traev. I'm finding it very hard to believe that I ever had him confused for you, Ash."

"I won't hold it against you," Ash assured. "He and I are identical, right down to the cutie mark." He paused and glanced at his flank and the yellow insignia of _Meis Thamule_ that sat there like a brand.

"I'm talking about his personality, dear," Rarity said, rolling her eyes. "He has absolutely none of your charm or ability to at least _act_ friendly. I just tried to offer him and his friends – although I wonder if they could even be called that – my thanks for their part in saving the town, and an invitation to join us for dinner, and he just _huffed_ and turned back to toying around with those Gems!"

"That actually sounds pretty similar to Ash's attitude in the early days of our association," Soul Mage said.

"But you guys cured me of that before even a year had gone by," Ash countered, "and did you say 'dinner' and 'us' in the same phrase, Rarity?"

"I did," Rarity replied with confident dignity, "and I meant, at the very least, you, Soul, Heart, Gale, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and me. You've all had what must have been an exhausting day searching through the Everfree Forest, fighting a giant magical monster, and repairing the damage. I intend to make sure you all have a good meal to end the day on."

"Oh," Ash said. He caught a glimpse of a sly look forming in Soul's eyes and rounded on the unicorn. "Not a word from you," he said sharply.

"Spoilsport," Soul said, sticking his tongue out. "Much appreciated, Rarity," he said more seriously to the fashionista, "although, things went quite swimmingly in the Everfree."

"Ah yes, I kept forgetting to ask," Ash said. "You all came back sooner than I expected. Was the Sapphire just laying around somewhere?"

"Not… exactly," Heart said.

* * *

_"Well?" the great green dragon asked impatiently. At least, Soul thought it was green. In the blue light of his and Johnten's horns, color was difficult to determine with much accuracy. Green was a typical draconic color scheme though, so it was probably a safe bet. "I'm giving you a chance to leave unharmed," the dragon said pointedly, "but you'd better act fast, ponies."_

_"Pardon us, sir dragon," Johnten said in a diplomatic tone, complete with a bow, "we meant no disrespect, but there wasn't a means to announce our presence outside your door."_

_"Of course there wasn't," the dragon snorted._

_"You see," Johnten continued, unfazed, "we happen to be in the market for gems, and-" Everypony ducked as the dragon roared and a gout of flame erupted over their heads._

_"And you thought to take some from my hoard?" the dragon said incredulously. "Amusing. At least you had the good manners to announce your intentions beforehand, unlike this little thief I caught a few years back. Perhaps I should spare one or two of you so other ponies will get the message: no one steals from a dragon's hoard!"_

_"How about trade?" Soul shouted as the dragon started to inhale for another blast of fire. The dragon paused, but only for a second._

_"Hold on!" Heart shouted, her spirit aura flaring brightly and her voice taking on a tone that demanded obedience. "If you'll just listen for a moment, we can all come out of this in a better state than we came into it. Dragon, could you honestly begrudge us a single gemstone if we were to find a way to make your horde larger overall? Answer me honestly." Relief and gratitude washed through Soul's mind as the dragon's mouth closed and its head drew away slightly._

_"I feel the loss of every carat that has ever left my possession," the dragon said at last, "but perhaps if you could bring enough treasure to equal what I've lost…"_

_"Easy peasy," Rainbow Dash said, "I know just the ponies who can arrange that."_

_"But," Soul Mage cut in before the Dragon could respond, "we'd prefer payment up front. One gem, of our choosing, from your hoard, and we'll deliver as many in return as it takes to satisfy you."_

_The dragon cocked its head to the side in thought, and then grinned, showing every one of its sharp fangs._

* * *

"Wait," Ash said, smiling wickedly, "you seriously talked a full-grown dragon into giving you a part of its horde?"

"We have to bring it a cartload of gems within two days or else it'll come and take the price out of our hides," Soul said, "but yes. Why does that amuse you so much?"

"Spike owes me fifty bits," Ash said with a chuckle, "and it hasn't even been a day. He will be good for that, right Twilight?"

"The two of you shook on it," Twilight answered in a neutral manner, "but don't expect payment right away."

"I'll discuss the details with him," Ash assured. "Besides," he added, glancing at Rarity with a smile, "dinner's already on somepony else tonight." Rarity smiled back, and Heart and Soul shared a look that quickly became conspiratorial.

They found the Bipersonality ponies right where Rarity had left them, near the library and deep in heated discussion as the three Gems that had been located so far floated around Traev in a manner that could only be described as juggling. They stopped talking as the group approached and turned to look at Ash expectantly. While everypony else stopped when the two groups met, Ash merely nodded at Traev, Johnten, and Carrie and kept right on walking toward the library, evidently planning to talk to Spike about their bet. "Hey!" Traev shouted after him, "Do you have a lead on the next Gem?"

"Nope," Ash called back casually, and then disappeared into the library.

"Your dedication is admirable, Traev," Celestia said, "but the day is nearly spent and you must be feeling a little tired from your efforts. Take some time to rest, and leave the remainder of the Gems for tomorrow."

"Ha, victory," Johnten said smugly.

"Fine," Traev said with reluctance, "you make a good point, Your Highness. Vanatos is not likely to rest though, particularly if he's aware that he lost the Emerald to us."

"I've already sent out warnings to every city in the land," Celestia said. "If we find any signs of trouble or clues to where the remaining four Gems landed, I'll keep you informed. Now, Twilight, I should return to Canterlot soon, so if there's anything else I can do for you?"

Twilight shook her head. "I'm so sorry I pulled you away unnecessarily," she said with slight embarrassment.

"Nonsense," Celestia replied, smiling, "it was worth the trip just to meet our newest guests personally. I'll be in touch." She spread her wings and prepared to take off.

"Stay safe, Princess," Heart said quickly. "It was good to see you back on your feet, and I don't want to change." Celestia gave the pegasus a grateful smile, and then launched herself into the air and, after getting well above the town, vanished in a flare of bright light.

"It occurs to me," Soul said in a conversational tone, looking toward the early-evening sun, "that our new friends here haven't been informed about their sleeping arrangements yet." He gave his sister a look out of the corner of his eye, and she nodded almost imperceptibly before sidling over to Twilight and throwing a leg over her shoulders.

"You're right," she declared, pulling the lavender alicorn alongside as she set off toward Sweet Apple Acres, "let's go take them to AJ."

"Wait," Rarity said, "what about Ash? What about dinner?"

"You two can go ahead without us," Soul said with a wink and a grin. "We'll manage on our own." A faint blush came to Rarity's face as Heart and Soul led the Bipersonality Team and a confused Twilight away, but she let them get away without further protest. Once they were out of earshot, she allowed herself a little squeal of happiness and pranced in place.

Down the street, Twilight finally caught on to the twins's plot and extracted herself from Heart's grip with a dubious expression. "You just set Rarity and Ash up on a date," she said accusingly.

"Guilty as charged," Soul said with a cheeky grin.

"Why?" Traev asked with clear disapproval in his voice.

"Because," Soul answered, "Rarity likes Ash, Ash is quite unattached, and watching him try to decide whether or not to be ticked off at us later is going to be fun."

"And it was bound to happen sooner or later," Heart added.

"You shouldn't be encouraging that sort of relationship," Traev said. Heart was about to retort when Carrie suddenly staggered and tossed her head. When she regained her balance and looked at Traev with a mild rebuke, her entire posture had changed and her eyes seemed to have become a shade lighter.

"You're hardly one to talk Traev," she said in a voice so unlike her own, lighter and with a hint of an accent on her r's and l's, that everyone except Traev and Johnten did a double-take. "You, alien, were courting Samantha, after all."

"It's not an issue of species, Seroh," Traev said, rolling his eyes. "And now you've blown their little minds," he added, indicating the confused looks on Twilight, Soul, and Heart's faces.

"It can't be that bad," Carrie, or rather the spirit controlling her, said with a roll of her eyes. "We've already told them Carlez and I exist, so my staying silent doesn't make that much sense anymore."

"Seroh," Soul said slowly, looking at Johnten. "You used that name earlier, in the battle, to copy the Element Wheel. This is the ghost you were invoking?"

"She is," Johnten said, "but she didn't 'copy' the Element Wheel; it's her unique, er, signature ability as a ghost. Tell me, Gold Heart, is it unique to you in your world?"

"Well, Soul can't do it," Heart said, "but I can't either without being soul-linked with him." Johnten nodded, looking satisfied, and suddenly it dawned on the twins, a realization that both of them were afraid to speak aloud lest it be confirmed. Heart did so anyway, forcing the words out in a quiet, hesitating tone. "'That makes perfect sense.' That's what you said earlier. Johnten, Seroh is… your sister?"

"My twin sister to be precise," Johnten said, smiling approvingly at the deduction. That smile faded quickly as Heart and Soul shied away from him with matching looks of horror.

"Warlock," Soul hissed, lowering his horn dangerously.

"Come again?" Johnten asked, confused.

"We should have guessed," Heart said, casting a mournful glance at the possessed Carrie and the glaring dangerously at Johnten. "Why, though?" she asked. "How could you not know any better?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Johnten said, taking a step back and holding up a foreleg protectively. Traev stepped forward with a dangerous look in his eye, and the three Gems spinning around him started to glow warningly.

"Everypony stop!" Twilight said sharply, stepping into the middle of the stand-off. "Heart, Soul, what is your problem all of a sudden?"

The two golden-yellow ponies blinked, looked at each other, and then relaxed slightly. Drawing closer together, they began to speak in turn. "Spiriters are always twins," Soul Mage said.

"Bound together, heart and soul," Gold Heart continued, "Two minds, but of one purpose."

"Most, at least those who make a difference in the world, embrace that and build off one another's power."

"A rare few go bad, however, and for them cooperation isn't good enough."

"They believe the strength of two can be better focused in one."

"To that, they kill their twin and… enslave their spirit somehow."

"A dark path," Johnten said in grim comprehension.

"That is _not_ what happened!" Seroh said in sharp anger. "I died months before Johnten's powers awoke, and he had nothing to do with it!"

"And yet you still hang around him," Soul said darkly, keeping his eyes on his double.

Seroh closed her eyes and another subtle change came over the brown earth pony body. When it spoke again, it was in Carrie's own voice. "Seroh hangs around me," Carrie said, "or in me to be more precise. She was suffering under a deadly curse, and in a desperate bid for relief we cast a spell that bonded her soul to mine. We later learned how she could manifest her spirit anywhere within about twenty feet of me, but for a while we were constantly sharing a body."

"Oh, oh!" Twilight said, excitedly, "I know about that! That's Multi-Mental Occupancy! There's a spell in your world that does that on purpose? How fascinating. Do you remember how to cast it? It's probably pretty dangerous though…"

"There's no going back once it's cast," Carrie said, "and we call it a Bipersonality."

"Bipersonality," Twilight said, "hence the… oh, I get it now."

"Kind of a weird thing to call yourselves after," Soul said flatly, "unless more than one of you is a ghost host?"

"Just Carrie and Seroh," Traev retorted. "And what do you call your group? Order-naries, right? What kind of a name is that?"

"A descriptive one," Soul said acidly. "Right off the bat you know what we are: mercenaries who fight for order and peace."

"Sell-swords, eh?" Traev sneered. "And you think you have the right to judge _us_?"

"We fight evil simply because it's the right thing to do," Johnten added, "Pro bono."

"So you're vigilantes then," Heart said with distaste.

"Ok," Twilight said, uncomfortably, "everyone's nerves are running a bit thin here. Maybe we're just cranky because we're hungry? We should definitely find a new topic of discussion or something else to do. Maybe?" She felt a tap on her shoulder as she trailed off awkwardly.

"Can I make a suggestion?" Pinkie Pie asked as the lavender alicorn turned around to face her. Twilight nodded, and the excitable pink pony bounced up into the air and spread her front legs wide as confetti rained from above. "The 'welcome to Ponyville and thanks for saving us' party is _ready_!" she announced gleefully before slowly coming back down to earth. The Bipersonality Team looked at her in bemusement for a moment, and then at Traev's cue turned around and walked away. "Hey!" Pinkie said indignantly. "Don't walk away from me! It's _your_ party."

"It's ok Pinkie," Heart said, patting her on the back, "Gale and us will be there, and we'll party hard enough to make up for those poopers."

"Nuh-uh," Pinkie said determinedly, "No way, Josie. Those ponies need to smile, and I'm not going to rest until they do!" She pulled a rainbow-patterned propeller beanie and a party horn out from somewhere and ran off after the departing trio.

"Part of me wants to stop her," Twilight said wistfully, "but I think she's entered 'the zone,' and nothing short of complete cerebral shutdown is going to deter her now. Let's go wait for them at Sugar Cube Corner. And I hope you two will still be able to work with those three."

"Four," Soul corrected her.

"Five," Heart corrected him. "They have two ghost members, remember? And yes, we'll try to get over it, although it's bringing up some bad memories."

* * *

Noctus drew in a deep breath and tried not to wince as what felt like every inch of her host's windpipe rattled with the effort. The Changeling's mind had submitted to her will almost immediately after she'd touched it and had become silent within a couple of hours, so the only thoughts in her head were her own. That wasn't good. There was no conflict, no passion, no initiative in the insectoid equine. Or was it an equine insect? Whatever it was, it gave her nothing and now the body was starting to fail.

Up ahead, she could make out the hidden entrance to the Changeling Hive, and she had just enough strength to fly the remaining distance and stagger inside before collapsing. A pair of sentries emerged from the shadows, and after a brief discussion one trotted off, presumably to fetch medical help. The sentry that remained nudged Noctus with a hoof, and she buzzed weakly in response.

"What are you doing here?" the sentry asked. It looked closer, and if it noticed the strange tint of her eyes and the weak, wavery aura-mane it clearly didn't consider them any more noteworthy than signs of deterioration all over the host's body. "What happened to you?"

"Qu… Queen," Noctus gasped out, "Must… see…"

"The Queen is out," the sentry said, "personally overseeing a scouting mission. Whatever you need to tell her, you'd better tell it to me now, in case you don't make it."

Noctus gasped and nodded, gesturing for the sentry to lean in closer. It obliged, and once its ear was mere inches from her mouth, she whispered, "You'll do for now." She didn't even give the new puppet a chance to process this sentence before she leaped out of the old carcass and insinuated into his mind.

**Please tell me you hate your job, or something.**


	11. Chapter 10: An Idle Morning

The morning sun rose over Ponyville, promising a fine, clear day to begin the harvest season. Applejack woke with the dawn and joined her family in the kitchen to breakfast on wholesome griddle cakes and eggs and finalize plans for the first day of full-time Apple-bucking. "I'll git started in the east fields where everythin's threatening ta drop," she said, using her plate as a simplistic map, "Macintosh, you work the south and toward the hills. Apple Bloom, try and git an acre or two harvested before you head off ta school, alright?"

"Ok Applejack," Apple Bloom said. "I think I saw signs of fruit bats moving in 'round about the Crusader Clubhouse, so I'll work there so we don't lose as many apples to them."

"What about our 'guests' out in the cow barn?" Big Macintosh asked. "Might as well get a little help out of them, if they're up for it."

"Already thought of that Mac," AJ said. "They ain't exactly farmers, any more than the original Order-naries are," she chuckled, "so I figured we'd let 'em get a little more sleep before siccin' them on our trees." Macintosh nodded in silent approval and piled more pancakes onto his plate. Apple Bloom finished her breakfast quickly, and then dashed out of the house to get a head start on her applebucking.

Arriving at the clubhouse with a stack of baskets balanced on her head, the young yellow pony started setting the baskets up underneath the trees that looked particularly ready to release their fruit at a firm kick, but then paused when she heard a faint snoring coming from the tree-house. She trotted up the ramp and peered through the window to investigate, and saw an orange pegasus filly with a purple mane and tail stretched out on the floor fast asleep. "Scoo-" Apple Bloom started to exclaim, but then stopped herself as an idea for a prank struck her. Quietly opening the door, she sneaked inside and found some ribbons from a long-abandoned project and a brush, and then proceeded to braid Scootaloo's tail. She finished that off with a large bow at the end of the braid, and then tried to do something similar with Scootaloo's mane. By this point, however, Apple Bloom's ministrations had roused the pegasus, and so Apple Bloom backed off quickly and tried to look innocent as Scootaloo's eyes opened.

"Apple Bloom?" Scootaloo asked tiredly, and then snapped to full wakefulness and sprang to her hooves. "H-hey," she said with a poor attempt at nonchalance, "what are you doing here?"

"I'm the one that should ask that question Scoots," Apple Bloom said. "Did ya seriously spend the night here?"

"Uh," Scootaloo said, rubbing her head. She glanced away from her friend, and then caught sight of her braided tail. "What the?" she exclaimed, and Apple Bloom broke down laughing. "What's the big idea?" Scootaloo asked sourly. "You know I don't like my hair done that way!"

"Well, that's what ya get fer having a sleepover in the clubhouse without tellin' me," Apple Bloom said, smirking.

"I wasn't having a sleepover," Scootaloo growled as she attacked the bow in her tail with her teeth, undoing the braid. She spat the ribbons onto the floor, and then slumped. "I just… I dunno, didn't want to sleep at home last night. I live close to where that monster attacked, and…"

"Yer parents know you're out here?" Bloom asked.

"Yeah," Scootaloo answered, "kinda. They think I'm sleeping over at your house though."

"Scootaloo," Apple Bloom sighed, shaking her head. "Fine, I'll go along with it since it's close enough to th' truth. Ya want breakfast?"

"Do I?" Scootaloo exclaimed eagerly. Apple Bloom led her outside, and then pointed at one of the trees she'd prepared for harvesting. Scootaloo got the hint immediately, and she was not amused. "I thought getting my tail braided was my punishment," she said.

"It was," Apple Bloom said, "but Applebuck Season starts today, so everypony on the farm's gotta pitch in. I'll let'cha have one apple fer every three you get outta that tree. Sound fair?"

Scootaloo regarded the plump, red, juicy-looking apples hanging from the branches, and her hunger got the best of her. Even being best friends with Apple Bloom, a Sweet Apple Acres apple plucked right from the tree was an uncommon treat. "All right, you've got a deal." Hopping into the air, she flapped her little wings as hard as she could and with great effort managed to get herself up into the canopy. Hopping from branch to branch, she shook the apples free, keeping a careful count of every one that landed in the baskets below. Satisfied that her friend was engaged in the work, Apple Bloom went on to the next tree and started bucking.

About an hour or so later, the pair of friends emerged onto the main path leading through the orchards and back around to the farmhouse. Scootaloo had earned more apples than she could safely eat, and was thus pushing a basket containing the surplus ahead of her. As they neared the house, the sounds of a heated discussion gave both young ponies pause, and they looked up to see Applejack conversing with an ash-grey unicorn, a golden-yellow unicorn, and a brown earth pony.

Scootaloo's head cocked to the side in confusion. "Are those guys the good ones or…?"

"They're t'other group," Apple Bloom said. "We let 'em sleep in the cow barn last night, but I'm thinking they ain't too willing to work it off."

"We have more important things to do than pick apples!" Traev snapped, proving Apple Bloom's theory with uncanny timing.

"Oh, like what?" AJ retorted. "Y'all are pretty much dependent on Ash n' the others to know where ta look fer the Gems, and I ain't heard anything about them pointing to the next one."

"You probably won't until we go ask them," Carrie pointed out.

"At this time of th' morning?" Applejack asked. "I'd wager they're thinking more about breakfast right now. A bit of applebucking would do y'all a lick of good anyway; it'll help get you in shape and more used ta moving on hooves."

"I think we got quite enough practice in the battle yesterday, thank you very much," Traev said coldly.

AJ's hoof dug at the ground dangerously, and her voice dropped to match. "Your attitude is really starting to bug me," she said. "I've dealt with thick-headed and disagreeable ponies before, but they usually had a halfway decent reason fer being that way. I get the feeling you're just being difficult for the hay of it."

"Well excuse us if we don't fit your little image of community effort," Traev said sarcastically.

"Uh, Apple Bloom," Scootaloo said out of the corner of her mouth, "maybe we should get to school now?"

Bloom gave her normally fearless friend a look, and then shook her head. "Mah school bag's in the house," she said. "You go on ahead if you want. I'll catch up ta you and Sweetie Bell, and I'll bring yer apples with me."

"Oh. Ok, see you later then Apple Bloom!" Scootaloo galloped off into the trees, skirting well around the arguing ponies and into town. Apple Bloom watched her until she was hidden by the trees, feeling concerned about the orange pegasus. Scootaloo was the only one of the original Cutie Mark Crusader trio who had yet to succeed in discovering her special talent, and now Apple Bloom was starting to suspect she was taking it harder than she let on. She shook the thought off for the moment, and then steeled herself to walk past Applejack and the Bipersonality Team. With luck, perhaps her brief presence would break up the argument, peaceful-like.

* * *

Trixie was in a sour mood, contrasting greatly with Barnacle Salt and Harlequin who were actually enjoying their breakfast. Cabbage Patch wanted to enjoy herself as well, but Trixie's mood and the occasional looks from the other morning customers of Sugar Cube Corner made it difficult. Nopony had said anything yet, but Cabbage was dreading that someone would recognize her as the Changeling from yesterday. Trixie was just waiting for something else to happen in support of her perceived Ponyville curse.

Rainbow Dash strolled into the bakery, fresh from her Wonderbolts-mandated morning workout, and after looking around she made a beeline for Trixie's table. "Well," she said, taking a seat across from Trixie, "if it isn't yesterday's big hero."

"What do you want, Rainbow Dash?" Trixie asked, suspiciously.

"I was thinking," Dash answered. "You seemed really quiet and not at all your usual hammy self yesterday, and from the looks of it a good night's sleep hasn't cured you of that."

"You must feel so accomplished," Trixie said with dry sarcasm. "Your little town of Ponyville has succeeded where even hitting rock bottom or being attacked by giant rocks has failed. Congratulations, there will be no showboating from Trixie from now until our new wagon is finished. Happy?"

"What? No!" Rainbow exclaimed earnestly. She glared at the other ponies at the table and asked, "Are you guys just going to let her be like this?"

"I gave boosting her spirits a go last night," Harlequin said. "No dice, so why bother trying again so soon?"

"I… I'd like her to be happier," Cabbage said in her typical quiet manner, "but she has so many stories of things going badly in this town…"

"I know she does," Rainbow said. "I was there for pretty much all of them. But why focus on the bad stuff if it only drags you down? I wouldn't be half as awesome as I am if I bothered to remember every time I crashed, flubbed a trick, or ran afoul of waterfowl." She thrust a hoof out to within an inch of Trixie's nose and continued, "And you can talk a bigger game than I can, Great and Powerful Trixie, and back it up on occasion. Remember when you took down Gilda's griffon gang?"

"Yes, but I had Twilight's help with that," the showmare replied.

"You didn't have her help yesterday," Rainbow pressed, withdrawing her hoof and smiling expectantly. "I saw the wreckage that Tremolo character did to the road, and you faced that and drove him off for a while. That must have been one hay of an awesome battle; tell me about it."

"It seems to me you already know the important part," Trixie said flatly.

"Yeah, but I want _details_," Rainbow insisted. She reached across the table and pulled Trixie up onto it. "Come on," she urged, backing away, "if you're the Great and Powerful Trixie, prove it. Tell us the tale, and make it outrageous." Harlequin and Barnacle voiced their encouragement, which was echoed by a couple other patrons, to Trixie's surprise.

"Oh, well, if you insist," Trixie said, mood lifting as she soaked up the approval. She conjured up a mirror to check her mane, gave it a toss, and began to spin her story. "It all began in Hoofington, which Trixie's sworn enemy Tremolo was holding hostage…"

Trixie warmed quickly to storytelling, and her small audience drank in every word. As soon as she had finished relating her troupe's heroic escape from Tremolo's rock monster, with everything related to sending Cabbage Patch ahead as a messenger judicially omitted, there were calls for another story, and so she told the story of when a miscast spell had briefly trapped Twilight Sparkle's mind in Trixie's head, and after that she went on to more fantastic but fictional tales. Ponies who came into Sugar Cube Corner looking for a treat or to place a larger order were enticed to linger by the azure showmare's narratives, and soon there was a consensus among the listeners that a proper show by Trixie's Royal Thespians was in order. The invitation was accepted and Barnacle, Harlequin, and Cabbage excused themselves to get their costumes and props, and perhaps find a more appropriate venue than a bakery.

They had to pass through the town square on their way to the rooms they were renting, and thus happened to witness a minor confrontation between the Bipersonality Team and Ashen Blaze and Gale. They were standing by the _Lirin_, and Ash and Gale were meeting Traev's hot impatience with longsuffering calm.

"What do you mean you don't know where to look next yet?" Traev demanded.

"There aren't any more Gems in the Ponyville area," Ash answered, "and that's about as far as PC can scan from the ground."

"Well then, do a scan from the air," Carrie said, pointing at the _Lirin_. "You've got a ship. Use it."

"The _Lirin_ isn't quite ready for flight yet," Gale said. "I don't know why you can't trust us, but we are taking the Gem hunt seriously. We're just being realistic."

"This whole thing's about you and Vanatos anyway, right?" Ash asked. "The Gems will come together sooner or later anyway, so why stress about it?"

"Because of what happened yesterday," Traev said, indicating the entire, mostly empty square. "Or are you as quick to forget as it was for the scars to be healed?"

"Point," Ash admitted, bowing his head for a moment. "However," he added, looking his double square in the eye, "yelling at us won't make reality bend to whims. My ship's grounded, and until it's fixed we're not finding any more Chaotic Gems. If you need something productive to do, why don't you go help pay off the debt we owe that dragon? The gem fields are that-a-way, if I remember correctly."

Traev looked off in the direction Ash was pointing, and then back at the grey unicorn with a flat expression. "Fine," he said, "but the _instant_ you get a clue to the remaining Gems, come and get us."

"You have my word," Ash said seriously. The Bipersonality turned and left, and once they were gone Ash breathed a sigh of relief. He then turned to Gale and with a quirked eyebrow said, "My ship seemed to be in pretty decent shape when I went to bed last night. Is there something I'm not aware of?"

"No," Gale answered, "_Lirin_'s flight capable, but those guys need a serious dose of chill pills. That said, I don't want to stress the ship too much, since it's our only way home."

"Ah, truth," Ash said. "I trust its care to very capable hooves, though." As Gale blushed in surprise at the rare overt compliment, Ash caught sight of the three performers standing a short ways off and gave them a measuring look. "Enjoy the show?" he asked coolly.

Cabbage ducked behind Barnacle Salt, who firmed his stance and met Ash's gaze. "Just passing by," he said.

"Good day then," Ash responded, turning his reflexive avoiding of eye contact into a dismissive turn of his head. Barnacle, Harlequin, and Cabbage resumed walking, keeping a weather eye on the grey unicorn for the first few steps. Ash made a show of examining the _Lirin_'s hull as the three departed.

"They're gone now," Gale said with mild amusement once they'd disappeared down the street. "You can relax."

"I'm caught in a conflict here," Ash said, looking at her out of the corner of her eye. "That little one's a Changeling, a creature that literally thrives on deception and emotive vampirism, but she's been vouched for by someone Twilight trusts and who I know has changed for the better since we first met her."

"The evil and the monstrous can reform, given the right incentive," Gale replied sagaciously, and then punctuated it with a hard jab to Ash's shoulder and the words, "_Meis Thamule_." Ash's answer to that was a mere sigh. "New topic," Gale said with a light tone and sly smirk. "You had a date with Rarity last night. How'd that go?"

"We had dinner, skipped out on the Pinkie Party, and talked through the evening," Ash said shortly. He seemed content to leave it at that and made as if to walk away, but Gale grabbed him and whirled him around to face her, a demand for elaboration on the tip of her tongue. "We didn't talk about anything serious," Ash said quickly and with some amusement. "I have to admit though, I'm starting to find her company to be… refreshing. The way she looks at me, the thing she sees, is so detached from the popular image of Ash the Pragmagic, and even from the way most ponies see me… In her eyes, I'm not a mercenary, an alien, not even a mage, first. It's… I'm not even sure, but it's nothing that describes me, and yet, I don't feel like it's inaccurate."

"My word," Gale said with deliberately over-played shock, "the entirely self-made Ash actually validating someone else's depiction of him? I must be dreaming, or is the world ending?" Ash glowered at her, and then stalked away in silence. "Hey," Gale called after him, mentally kicking herself, "I'm happy for you, really."

"Appreciated," Ash called back sarcastically without slowing down or looking back.

* * *

The Changeling hive was literally buzzing with activity, and it was driving Noctus crazy. She hadn't quite been detected yet, but the little insectoid shape-shifters were aware that something was pushing drones to the brink of mental and physical death as it moved around their home. Noctus had come to the realization that while the typical Changeling could possess ambition and the drive to excel at their assigned tasks, its personality would crumble like old autumn leaves before the will of the Nightmare, leaving her very little to derive more strength from.

**My only hope that the Queen's invasion of Canterlot means she actually has some brains in her head.**

The activity wasn't all due to her though, as she quickly learned. The Queen had finally returned, and so Noctus quickly secured a new, fresh host to allow her to approach the royal chamber without attracting undue attention. She paused outside, briefly confused by the lack of guards stationed by the entrance tunnel. She shrugged it off as something to see to later, and then sneaked in as she heard voices within.

"You're certain this will be all I require?" the buzzing voice of Queen Chrysalis asked. "It does not look all that impressive."

"I doubt I need to tell you that appearance can be deceptive," said another rumbling, hissing, masculine voice. "Bless your children with its power, and then seek your revenge. All I ask in return is that you draw out my enemies and crush them along your way."

"And how will I know who these enemies of yours are?" Chrysalis asked. Noctus crept forward until the speakers came into view, and then froze.

"You'll know them," said the large, bipedal monster that stood before Chrysalis's throne, its entire form divided into four glowing quarters, each a different color. "Utilize your new power properly and they won't be able to resist showing themselves." Chrysalis stared intently at the creature, and then turned her attention down to the stone at her feet. She placed a hoof on it, and a dark shadow began to spread out of it, wrapping itself around her leg and flowing rapidly along the floor in all directions. The glowing creature clapped his hands and vanished in a flare that was quickly consumed by the growing darkness. The darkness reached Notcus, and at its touch she felt strength fill her stolen body.

**Oh, this could be ****_very_**** good**.


	12. Chapter 11: The Unexpected

"Am I still banned from Cloudsdale, Twilight?"

Twilight blinked, caught off-guard by the wholly unexpected question. Ash and Gale had just returned from a quick test flight above Ponyville in the _Lirin_, and the first thing out of the unicorn's mouth when the hatch opened had been that question. Not a comment on the ship's status, nor an announcement of locating the signature of another Chaotic Gem, but a question about something that had happened years ago during the original hunt for magic gems from another universe. Twilight had actually forgotten that Ashen Blaze wasn't allowed into the pegasus cloud city, on penalty of arrest for theft, since it had never been much of an issue after the fact.

"Why does that matter?" Traev asked. He and his team had also been waiting and watching the _Lirin_ being put through its paces.

"PC picked up a curiously mingled magical signature moving through the sky, and determined two things. One: it seemed to be heading toward Cloudsdale. Two: that signature was a very close match to a Chaotic Gem or two being used."

"Well, it's about time!" Traev exclaimed. "Ash can stay behind."

"Uh-uh-uh," Ash said, poking the other grey unicorn lightly on the nose as he tried to walk up the ship's entry ramp. "Don't forget who you look like. I made a bit of a mockery of the police ponies in that city, and I doubt they'll buy your claim of not being me."

"Besides," Gale said as she emerged from the _Lirin_, "we'll have to arrange alternative transportation. Ol' _Lirin_'s not rated for cloud landings."

"I can probably fix that," Twilight offered. "The cloud-walking spell should-"

"No thank you," Ash and Gale said simultaneously.

"Cloud-walking?" Johnten asked, head cocked to one side in disbelief. "You're not serious."

"The city is called Cloudsdale for a very good reason," Gale deadpanned. "And trust me, that's not nearly the weirdest thing Equestria has to offer."

"Well, I guess I'll go charter the hot air balloon then," Twilight said, deciding not to pry into her friends' rejection of her earlier suggestion.

"Would we all fit though?" Ash wondered aloud, and Twilight paused as he counted. "Twi and Heart can fly. We should probably bring Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy if she's willing. Soul and Johnten, Gale and Carrie."

"You and Traev as well," Twilight cut in, with a seriously regal look on her face, "because as a Princess of Equestria, I'm granting you a pardon right her and now. If Cloudsdale tries to keep you out, they'll answer to me."

"Thank you Twilight," Ash said with a grin. "That makes six then, plus equipment. Shouldn't be a problem." Twilight nodded and headed off, passing Heart and Soul who were approaching the ship from the marketplace wearing empty saddle bags on their backs. "Ah, good timing you two," Ash said in greeting.

"I assume we're going to be busy soon, then?" Soul replied. "A perfect time to deal with _this_ then." He and his sister removed the bags and tossed them to Johnten and Carrie. "Johnten," Soul said sincerely to his double, "please accept these as tokens of our apology for how we reacted to your explanation of your powers the other day."

"The apology goes for your sister as well, hence the second bag," Heart added, "We shouldn't have judged you by our personal standards. We figured you'd want something to carry the Gems in, so Traev doesn't have to levitate them around all the time."

Carrie's stance shifted slightly as the ghostly Seroh took control briefly to say, "Apology accepted, and I'm sorry I gave you two a fright."

"Speaking of the Gems," Traev said, giving Ash an expectant look. Ash didn't respond beyond turning around and heading inside his ship, emerging a moment later with the three recovered Gems in floating in an orange bubble of magic and PC on his head.

"You'll have to fetch the gel launcher yourself," he said to Gale as he passed the Gems to his counterpart. "I don't want to spoil your Magebane."

"How considerate of you," Gale replied, deadpan, as she walked inside to get her equipment. Traev and his group held a quick discussion that ended with Johnten carrying the Sapphire of Water in his saddle bag, Carrie taking the Emerald of Earth, and Traev keeping the Diamond of Light floating around above his head. As soon as Gale re-emerged from the ship with the Gel Launcher comfortably strapped on, everyone set off in the direction Twilight had gone. They found her and the Ponyville hot air balloon waiting for them near the town square, and she had them line up so she could cast the cloud-walking spell on each non-winged pony before they climbed into the basket. Traev looked dubious as the magic swirled around his hooves, but as the spell settled into place he felt a subtle change in sensation and silently acknowledged that something had occurred, even if he couldn't see it for himself.

"All right," Twilight said once everypony had managed to squeeze in to the basket, minus herself and Gold Heart, who was hovering nearby patiently, "now we need to wait for-"

"We're here!" Rainbow Dash announced loudly as she came swooping in to a perfect high-speed landing. Fluttershy was a few seconds behind her, moving a more sane speed. "Let's do this," the cyan pegasus said eagerly, jumping back into flight and clapping her hooves together. "Nothing's taking down Cloudsdale while I'm around."

"Are we even sure it's going to be dangerous?" Fluttershy asked, clearly nervous. "I mean, it may just be somepony who found the Gem and is taking it home. Like my mother did."

"Don't be naïve," Traev said scornfully. "Nothing's ever that simple and harmless when the Chaotic Gems are involved."

"Says the _meis_ who hasn't met Fluttershy's parents yet," Ash muttered to himself, earning a smirk from Soul and Gale. Twilight untied the anchor rope from the ground and passed it to Rainbow Dash, who was more than willing to add some of her speed to the balloon as it rose into the air and began drifting toward Cloudsdale.

After a few minutes, Soul tapped Johnten on the shoulder to pull his attention from the receding landscape below. "So Johnten, we've been introduced to one of your ghost companions," he said. "Who or what is the other one?"

"His name is Carlez Baker," Johnten answered. "He was originally a high ranking officer in the…" He paused as his ear twitched, and he cast an annoyed glance off to the right. "Second-in-command," he said in an amending tone, rolling his eyes. "Sorry, he's insisting I tell it as accurately as possible. He was the second-in-command of the ghost-hunting terrorist group, but for some inexplicable reason he was ignorant of the group's true purpose until shortly after we started interfering with their operations. He turned to our side pretty quickly when he found out, and ultimately lost his life trying to take down his former leader and the group from within. He's normally reluctant to answer my summons, but he has a rare power as a ghost that we're going to need once we've gathered all the Gems and cornered Vanatos."

"Oh? And what would that be?" Ash asked.

"Oh, just one half of the only method to safely utilize the full potential of all seven Gems without blowing up the universe," Traev drawled.

"No, seriously," Ash said, giving his double a flat look.

"Seriously," Johnten said. "It's the only sure-fire weapon we've got against Vanatos. It has had the consistent side-effect of relocating us to a different universe, but it's a price we've learned to live with."

"If you say so," Ash said, shrugging and shifting his attention back to the sky.

Cloudsdale soon came into view, and everypony in the balloon took a moment to admire the sight of the majestic cloud city. Then, a large plume of flame shot up from within the Cloud Coliseum, and Rainbow Dash immediately started pulling the balloon in that direction. Ash had PC focus on the Coliseum, and after a moment nodded. "Strong and very organized concentration of Fire energy," he said.

"That'll be the Ruby then," Traev said, looking more pleased than anypony had seen him since he'd arrived in Equestria.

"I'll place my money on that as well," Ash said, "but I'm seeing a high concentration of Air as well, and something else PC can't quite identify." Another plume of fire appeared, punching a hole in the clouds that made up the coliseum's walls. "I'd recommend stepping on it," Ash said, unnecessarily. Twilight conjured up a couple more ropes tied to the balloon, and then she and Heart each took one and added their strength to Rainbow's. They brought the balloon up to the top of the coliseum and parked it on the highest tier of seating. As everyone piled out of the basket, they took in what was now clearly the scene of a battle between two unusual beings. One looked like a phoenix the size of a tree and composed entirely of raging red and orange flames. The other was a strange amalgamation of pony, goat, dragon, lion, and several other creatures which was presently leading the fire-bird on a merry chase around the coliseum. The Order-naries recognized the second figure instantly, and groaned.

"_Skvetch_," Ash swore. "Just what we don't need."

Heart and Soul activated their spirit link and charged forward, the unicorn hopping down the tiered clouds that served as the seating area while the pegasus flew ahead, charging an Element Wheel between her front hooves. "Discord!" Heart screamed, her entire aura flaring in response to her growing fury. Discord glanced her way just as she threw the Element Wheel, and he narrowly dodged its first pass. The movement distracted him from the fire-bird for a crucial second, and it spat a fireball that engulfed his lower half and set the tufted end of his tail alight. The dragonequus considered this, the boomeranging Element Wheel, the giant bird, and the two golden-yellow ponies with what seemed to be mild annoyance, and then started moving again. He looped in the air to avoid Heart's attack, which then quickly faded, and then snapped his fingers to encase the fire-bird in a giant red and yellow egg, which promptly began to plummet toward earth.

"Well, here are some faces I haven't seen in a while," he said in a loud and cheery tone, which only made Heart and Soul scowl more as they came a stop a theoretically safe distance away. Discord looked at them and their ethereal blue auras, and then up to the group that was making its way down after them. "I know what you're thinking," he said, "but that bird was not my fault. At least, I'm not the one that made it."

"Sure, and I'm a monkey," Soul replied. A tendril of spirit energy started to lash out from his horn, but then Fluttershy threw herself between him and Discord, forcing Soul to reel his power back in quickly.

"Wait," the soft-spoken pegasus said. "If he says he didn't do it, I believe him."

"Fluttershy, have you lost your mind?" Ash exclaimed as he jumped down next to the twins. "It's _Discord_."

"A lot has changed in the last two years," Twilight said, alighting in front of Ash and flaring her wings pointedly.

"Truth," Ash admitted, giving the alicorn a suspicious look. "But, he's still the _skvetchte_ Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony."

"I am a reformed dragonequus, Ashen Blaze, thanks to this little pony," Discord said, grabbing Fluttershy and holding her out in front of him as he approached, full of confidence. He set her down on the cloud and gave her a couple friendly pats on the head.

"He is good now," Fluttershy vouched, "trust me."

"He's still a pain in the flank most of the time," Rainbow Dash added, "but he tries not to upset 'Shy, at the least."

The Order-naries – Gale had just caught up to her friends – didn't look convinced, but then PC beeped and spoke into Ash's ear, relating a discovery that the ash-grey unicorn quickly repeated for all to hear, staring intently at Discord. "You have the Chaotic Gem of Air on you."

Discord blinked in surprise for a second, and then laughed heartily. "Well, that was a refreshingly out-of-the-blue, and correct, guess Ash," he said, giving Ash a polite golf clap. "Maybe I managed to rub something off on your dull, rigidly structured mind. Let me guess, you'll be wanting me to hand it over now?"

"That would be most appreciated, sir," Traev said, stepping forward.

Discord looked at him and Ash, and then took notice of Johnten and Carrie and chuckled. "Looks like Celestia wasn't exaggerating after all," he said in a low, disappointed tone. "Ah well," he continued, shrugging dramatically, "you did ask nicely. Just a second." He pulled a small periwinkle purse out from behind his back and reached in to it until his griffon arm had vanished inside nearly to the shoulder, digging around while keeping one eye trained on the space below the coliseum. After a moment, he pulled out a large, flawless yellow topaz, and the purse vanished in a puff of smoke. He started to launch into some kind of flourishing presentation, but was cut off as Ash and Traev both reached out with their magic to pull the Gem out of his hand. "How rude," the dragonequus pouted.

The two ash-grey unicorns eyed each other as the Topaz floated between them in the opposing pulls of their telekinesis, but then Ash relinquished his hold on the Gem and let Traev test it. Traev touched the Topaz to the tip of his horn and closed his eyes, focusing as the Gem began to glow. "It's genuine," he said, and then sent it floating into Carrie's saddlebag.

"Discord," Fluttershy asked, "where did you get that gem in the first place?"

"And what was with the giant phoenix?" Rainbow added, eyeing Discord warily.

"I'd love to tell you," Discord answered apologetically, slowly spinning upside down and keeping his gaze locked on something below the coliseum. "I think you'd all get a kick out of it, but something tells me I won't have enough time to tell it." Everyone walked up to the edge of the clouds and peered down, and they saw that the fire-bird had broken out of the egg and was quickly climbing back up to their level with powerful wingstrokes. "Here's the short version though," Discord said, "the bird's after the gemstone, not me. Good luck." He vanished in a blink of light.

"Yeah," Dash said dryly. "_Pro_bably should've seen that coming."

"Well," Carrie said, smiling dangerously, "if it want the Topaz, then we'll give it the Topaz. Traev, take my bags; I think it's high time we gave the Primal Force a go." She pulled the yellow Gem out her saddle bags as Traev magically undid the buckles and lifted them off her back. Carrie gripped tightly the Topaz between her front hooves, staring into its depths with a look of intense concentration. The Gem glowed, becoming brighter and brighter until both it and Carrie were hidden within it.

"Mind speeding up whatever you're doing?" Gale asked, peering over the edge of the clouds briefly before backing up and taking a firing stance. "Because it's almost go time." On cue, the giant fire-bird erupted into view, and Gale hit it square in the base of its neck with a Magebane gel. The construct reeled back as the flames composing its head snuffed out for a few seconds, the magical energy drawn inexorably into the beige gel until it broke down. Gale loaded the Gel Launcher again and started lining up another shot on the frantic, recovering fire-bird, but before she could pull the trigger there was a sound like a gust of wind and the yellow glow of the Topaz shrank away.

Both Carrie and the Topaz were gone, replaced by what appeared to be visibly swirling air in the shape of a lean pony-sized fox with eyes that glowed yellow. "Oh, well this is a little different," it said in Carrie's voice, although its mouth didn't move. "I like it. John, going to join me?" Without waiting for an answer, she leaped off the cloud and flew toward the fire-bird, kicking its regenerating head as she passed before turning to fly tight circles around the bird, forming the beginnings of a tornado.

"Wow," Twilight said, impressed. "I never imagined a single… creature could generate that much wing power all by themselves."

"I'm not surprised," Ash said. "She's become an air elemental. Somehow," he added, giving his double a questioning look.

"Wind typically feeds Fire though," Johnten said, wriggling out of his saddlebags, which remained floating in the grips of one of his ghost partners, and then dug out the Sapphire of Water. He squeezed it in the same manner that Carrie had, and when the Gem's reaction was complete he'd become a large falcon made entirely of blue water. "'A little different' she says," he muttered as he took flight.

"Ok, what the _skeb_ are we seeing here, Traev?" Ash asked.

"The first secret of the Chaotic Gems," Traev answered, pleased. "Four of the seven Elements belong to a subset we call the Primal Force – Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. Every person's soul reflects one of those four more powerfully than the others, and by attempting to draw upon enough of the appropriate Gem's power, the Gem will fuse with you, transforming you into something that can wield the elemental energy with greater power and ability than any mere mortal. My own element is Fire, but since we don't have the Ruby yet…

"Anyway, the transformations aren't usually so… elemental. Normally we turn into half-human, half-animal warriors, but perhaps since we aren't human to start with in this universe the Gems decided to go a different way."

"You say that like you think the Gems might be intelligent," Heart said.

Traev shrugged. "Who's to say they aren't, after a fashion?" he asked. "With as much magical power focused into a single point as there is with each Gem, something like a will or intelligence could emerge."

While Traev had been giving his explanation, the water-falcon that was Johnten had drawn roughly half of the lowest tier of the coliseum's seating clouds into himself as pure water before joining the battle between the giant phoenix construct and wind-fox Carrie. The mini tornado Carrie had created kept the fire-bird from moving, but it continued burning and held its shape even as the vortex pulled the air away from it, and lashed out with wings, talons, and exhaled fireballs trying to hit the near-invisible fox. Johnten hovered in place just outside the tornado for a moment of thought, and then dove down and came at it from below, shooting all his gathered water up into the funnel. Carrie picked up on his plan quickly and altered her wind to focus the water into a tight spout that doused the fire-bird's core in a might hiss of steam. Within seconds, the magical flames were overwhelmed and faded away to nothing. Carrie came to a stop and both she and Johnten watched the spot where the fire-bird had been for a while longer. They then returned to the group, looking mildly disappointed despite the victory. They touched down on the cloud, and in twin flashes of blue and yellow light were restored to their pony forms, the Sapphire and Topaz balanced on their backs.

"It didn't have the Ruby inside," Johnten said apologetically to Traev.

"It's fine," Traev said. "I wouldn't be surprised if Vanatos created that thing from his own power."

"Bravo, bravo, what a fantastic show!" Discord reappeared in the air, wearing a tailcoat with a carnation that couldn't seem to decide what color it wanted to be in the lapel, a black top hat, and a giant, half-full bag of popcorn tucked under one arm as he applauded. "Two thumbs up for that quick yet surprising battle."

"I'm _so _glad we have your approval," Soul Mage drawled.

"Well, I wasn't talking about _you_ anyway, sarcasm-pants," Discord said, turning his nose up snootily. He banished his costume and props with a snap, and then floated down into the middle of the group, arms held wide as his mood switched back to cheerful. "Now that the excitement's over, I bet we've all got some exciting stories to tell. I'm feeling a bit famished too, so how's about Fluttershy treats everypony to dinner while we talk?" Before anyone, particularly Fluttershy, could formulate a response, he snapped his fingers and everyone vanished from Cloudsdale. A few moments later, Cherry Berry appeared in the abandoned hot air balloon, wearing her flight goggles and looking completely disoriented.

"What just happened?"


	13. Chapter 12: Chaos for Dinner

Dinner at Fluttershy's cottage was a crowded affair, and it didn't get off to a very good start. Discord decided to invite Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Applejack to join in, and they were none too happy about being suddenly teleported to Fluttershy's without warning, interrupting whatever business they'd been in the middle of. They each gave the dragonequus a piece of their minds, and he contritely sent them back to their homes. Several minutes later, once dinner was actually ready, Pinkie and Rarity showed up at Fluttershy's door in more amenable moods, having had time to cool off and set things right at home. AJ was apparently not as quick to forgive, since she didn't return. To fit everypony, Discord had to stretch the table, and then increase the interior dimensions of Fluttershy's main room to make room around the table.

Once everypony was seated and the serving dishes started moving around to deposit portions to each plate, the mood lightened a little and stories began to be exchanged. Discord went first, explaining to the still suspicious Order-naries how he'd changed his ways after Fluttershy's near infinite patience and genuine trust had taught him the true value of friendship. After that, the events of the previous few days were related with much commentary from just about every pony at the table. Discord found the mistaken identity plot at the beginning particularly hilarious, but then started to become uncharacteristically serious as the story drew closer to his entrance into it.

"And so it seems we're finally back to you, Discord," Soul Mage said in conclusion. "How did you end up with the Topaz and a giant flying fire-bird golem chasing after you?"

"It's not all that exciting," Discord said, looking resigned. "Celestia graciously gave me permission to join the little Equestria-wide hunt for the Gems she'd organized in your honor, Bipersonality Team, and it sounded like an amusing distraction from my normal routine so I jumped at the chance. They should have repaired the neat hole I made in the roof from that particular jump; I made sure to not actually break any stones and left the ones I dislodged stacked somewhere easy to find. I think.

"Anywho, I wasn't having any luck until just this morning when my breakfast was interrupted by the second-most-handsome-looking monster I have ever seen. I, of course, being the most handsome." Rarity and a couple others bit back their knee-jerk objections to that statement and there were some rolling eyes, but Soul chuckled and raised his glass in a gesture of approval. "He really was a sight to behold," Discord continued, "looking like someone had painted exactly one quarter of his body red, yellow, blue, or green without considering his figure or letting the colors mix together where they met. I could hardly make out his face through the glow he gave off, but it wasn't hard to tell what he was thinking."

"You met Vanatos," Traev said matter-of-factly. "He approached you, you said?"

"He was very direct and didn't waste time on frivolities," Discord said. "Even if I were my old dastardly, friendless self I wouldn't want anything to do with something so bland and one-note. The only thing that kept me from dumping pudding on his head and finding somewhere more interesting for breakfast was the big yellow topaz he was holding. I don't know where he got his information on me, but it was so two years ago and grossly inaccurate. Even if I were looking to get payback from you Elements of Harmony and your Princessly support group, that Gem couldn't let me do anything I could do by myself if I had a mind to. Still, it was golden opportunity to not only be a helpful dragonequus to the good guys, but to give someone a nasty little surprise in the same move. Although, taunting glow-boy's descision to trust me as I flew away wasn't my best idea."

"He sicced the bird on you," Ash said, smirking.

"Must you ruin my all punchlines?" Discord grumped. "Yes, he conjured it straight out of his red left hand and it chased me all the way to Cloudsdale, where I had the good fortune to run into all of you. All of you minus two that is," he amended, gesturing at Pinkie and Rarity before downing an entire pitcher of lemonade to quench his dry throat.

"I have a question," Ash said. "You're a powerful reality warper, Discord, so what reason did you have for leading the construct to Cloudsdale and then making us deal with it rather than just destroying it outright yourself?"

Discord slid under the table and popped back up next to Ash, putting an arm around the grey unicorn's neck in a friendly manner. "I'm sensing some lack of trust here," Discord said. "It's because you're still upset over that harmless bit of mind control all those years ago, isn't it?"

"Everything you put Ash and the rest of us through was hardly 'harmless'," Gold Heart said testily. The look she shot Discord actually gave him pause, and he slowly removed his arm from Ash's shoulders.

"Ok, I'll be sure to avoid pressing that button while Gold Heart is around," Discord muttered. "Ash, to show my pure intentions, I'll tell you a secret about myself that I've never witnessed any pony ever figure out. My powers are phenomenal and cosmic, but they aren't permanent. Active spells, like a magically animated fire shaped like a phoenix, will quickly return to their normal course if I don't pay constant attention to toying with them. And you know how I feel about constancy. I can't force a spell to stop either, or else I would have stolen and hidden the Elements of Harmony as soon as I was freed from my statue for Fluttershy's reformation class." Ash looked thoughtfully at Discord, but before he could say anything the dragonequus returned to his side of the table, flopping his tongue out as if he'd just tasted something nasty. "Yeuck, all this serious talk's souring my tongue. Somepony change the topic."

"Actually," Gale said, "I do have something to discuss, with Carrie. Before my group left Equestria two years ago, I gave the Royal Guard the blueprints for my Gel Launcher and the method of creating Magebane from local resources. Since you and I fill the same roles on our respective teams, I can probably pull strings to get you outfitted with a launcher and Magebane of your own. That way we won't have to worry about who'll be side-lined in any future fights for the Gems."

"That's thoughtful of you," Carrie said. "It's not necessary though, since I have the Topaz now."

Gale went very still, a small smile frozen on her lips as her eyes started to unfocus. "Well, sure you do have that now," she said. "That transformation trick was impressive, but it's _magic_. We don't need to rely on magic to be useful."

"I'm afraid I have to disagree on that," Carrie said diplomatically. "I'll take the power of Topaz of Air over anything."

The smile vanished from Gale's face in an instant. "No, that can't be right," she said. Heart and Soul exchanged a concerned glance at the earth pony's tone of voice. "You told me you'd invented your own version of Magebane. Traev's already a mage, so relying on the Topaz before your own weapons and talents would just be redundant."

"It puts me on equal footing with him and Johnten," Carrie retorted, beginning to grow angry. "The only thing special about me at the start was that I have Johnten's sister sharing my body. Even when I started developing my gels and other tools, I could never match up to John and Traev. The Gems put all of us on even ground, able to face any threat with the exact same, reliable approach."

"You… you…" Gale leaped up and tried to throw herself at the other brown pony, but Soul caught her in the air and gagged her with the end of his spirit tendril.

"Trancing," he said with resignation. "Sorry about that," he said to Carrie and the other Bipersonality ponies with sincere contrition. "She can get like this if things don't appear to be working to her expectations. We'll go calm her down. Heart, Ash, let's go." Heart and Ash left the table and followed Soul and the floating, struggling Gale outside without a word. An awkward silence filled the room in their wake; even Discord seemed to be at a loss for a comment, inappropriate or otherwise.

"Well," Rainbow Dash said at last, looking contemplative, "She _kinda_ had a point."

"Sure, take their side, as always," Johnten drawled. "I get it. We're just the annoying interlopers; no one needs to worry about our feelings. I'm out of here." He stormed out of the cottage, and his teammates were quick to follow him.

"Hey, wait!" Rainbow called after them. "I didn't mean it like that, honest!" She looked at her friends, most of whom were giving her judgmental looks, and grew defensive. "They didn't give me a chance to explain myself," she protested.

"Explain it to us then," Twilight said.

"Alright," Rainbow said. "Beneath the crazy, I think Gale was trying to say that groups work better when everypony has something only they can do, and not when they all try to be the same. That's what makes us, and Applejack, so great. Twilight's a magical Princess and the best organizer, no one's better than Rarity at sewing and fashion, AJ's strong and dependably stubborn, Pinkie lives off other ponies' smiles, Fluttershy's a wizard with animals, and I'm practically a Wonderbolt."

"What about me?" Discord asked coyly.

"You're… Discord," Rainbow said. "The point is, we each have something the others can't do, and that makes us all the stronger as the Elements of Harmony."

"That is a good point," Twilight said. "The Order-naries have the same perspective, but evidently the Bipersonality Team sees things differently. Perhaps that's why they haven't fit in as well around here. We need to try harder to accept their differences if we're going to keep helping them. Agreed?"

"Agreed," everypony else said.

* * *

"I still find it a bit disturbing that while a few spirit blasts to the head can short-circuit my tantrums, they do nothing for a deGrange trance."

"I can't explain it either, Ash," Soul Mage said. "Just hold her still."

"I'm fine," Gale insisted, struggling in vain to escape the magic bubble Ash was holding her in. "Really, I'm fine." She'd been repeating that ever since the Order-naries had left Fluttershy's cottage, and they still weren't convinced.

"Gale," Heart said, "try to think about something else. Say, why don't we go to the library and find you a DIY book. Maybe there are some home repairs you can do for Twilight."

"I'm…" The crazed look started to fade from Gale's eyes and she grew still. "Twilight lives in a tree," she said. "A living, enchanted tree. It probably fixes itself over time. Nice and efficient."

"Ok, I think that's progress," Soul muttered cautiously to Ash. Ash nodded in agreement and set Gale down on the ground, releasing her from the bubble.

At that very moment, the Bipersonality Team walked into view down the road, focused so intently on a conversation of their own that they didn't notice the Order-naries until Gale caught sight of her counterpart and slipped right back into a fit, screaming "Sellout!"

"Agh," Soul groaned, facehoofing as he lassoed Gale by the tail with his spirit tendril to keep her from taking off. "Off to elsewhere then," he said, changing his grip to carry Gale as he trotted away from the Bipersonality Team. Heart started hovering, rubbing her front hooves together as she tried to decide between following her brother or staying to try and make peace.

"I think I can handle them," Ash said, seeing her dilemma. Heart gave him a dubious look, so he added, "I'll try my best not to get into an argument. Trust me."

"Best of luck then," Heart said, and then flew off. Ash watched her for a moment as an excuse for not looking at Traev and company until he felt ready for the encounter. He started to have second thoughts as he considered the seemingly perpetually-annoyed Traev, but he pushed those doubts aside firmly. He'd just given Heart a promise, and Ashen Blaze never reneged on a promise.

He walked up to the group with an apology on Gale's behalf on the tip of his tongue, but Traev beat him to the first word, stating without preamble, "I think it's best if we just go our separate ways. Our two teams clearly can't coexist without our differences clashing violently, and the locals side with your team. You've been helpful, Maestron Ash _Thamule_, but we're going to finish things our way."

"_Meis_," Ah corrected automatically. "And it's just Ash, or Ashen Blaze for formality's sake. Now, don't be so hasty to give up on us just because Gale's being a little nuts right now. She'll get over it."

"I dunno about that," Johnten said. "She seemed pretty incensed."

"And downright insensitive," Carrie added.

"She'll get over it," Ash repeated. "Besides, how do you plan to locate the remaining Gems without my ship and PC here? The way I see it, you still need us." Traev narrowed his eyes, but didn't dispute Ash's assessment. Taking that as a good sign, Ash smiled and said, "I know we haven't been doing well in the friendship department, but my Order-naries and the Elements of Harmony are both sincere about helping you beat Vanatos. Take some time to let everything cool down and really think about whether you want to throw away that help. That's all I'll ask of you. Well, that and your agreement to continue locking the Gems in the _Lirin_ tonight, for security."

Traev glanced at the western horizon, noting the sun's position. "Very well," he said. "It is getting to be too late for further adventures anyway. You're too much like me for my comfort, Ashen Blaze, but at least I know I can rely on your ship's security to keep any nighttime thieves out." He gestured to Johnten and Carrie, and they pulled the four Gems out of their bags.

"Nothing gets in," Ash said smugly as he gathered the Gems into a cloud of telekinetic magic. "Except for your ghost friends at least, but since the only spirits interested in the Gems are on our side, I don't have anything to worry about, yes?"

"No," Traev said, "nothing to worry about at all. Good evening to you."

* * *

Ash reached his ship just as the sun was about to set, and he wasted no time getting inside and securing the Diamond, Topaz, Sapphire, and Emerald in a cargo compartment. He then walked to the cockpit and set PC down on the control panel. "Does the old ship have anything worth telling me about?" he asked.

"_Nothing of immediate concern_," PC answered through the ship's comm. "_The _Lirin_ is flight-capable and by all indicators able to stand an inter-dimensional jump. Additional diagnostics should not be necessary._"

"Good," Ash said, turning away. "I think I'll be turning in for the evening then."

"_Before you do that, sirrah,_" PC said, "_I just picked up Ray on the sensors, approaching the ship. He seems to be alone though, so it may be the other one. Discerning between Order-nary and Bipersonality is still prone to accuracy errors._"

"_Ne bara_," Ash sighed to himself. He exited the ship and paused at the bottom of the ramp, peering out into the growing gloom at the golden-yellow unicorn coming his way. "Ah, Soul," he said when the unicorn drew close enough to recognize. "What are you doing here, alone?"

"Heart's safe, back at Twilight's," Soul responded. From the jittery look in his eyes, Ash figured that statement had been as much for Soul's own sanity as to answer Ash's question. "I just wanted to let you know that Gale's back to normal. She did some repairs to the plumbing in Rarity's kitchen, and that apparently satisfied her need to fix the universe, for now."

"Well, as long as she doesn't blow her top around her double tomorrow everything should be fine," Ash said. "Thanks Soul, and good night. Hope your sister doesn't flip out before you get back."

"She won't," Soul assured as he turned to leave. "We can handle willful separations, you know."

Ash chuckled and nodded as Soul departed, and then went back inside his ship and gave the orders for it to close up and dim the lights so he could sleep.

* * *

All was darkness in the Changeling hive; darkness deeper and more total than a moonless night. All was silent, the normal buzzing chatter of Changeling voices, clicking of carapace-covered hooves on the stone, and muted flashes of disguises being assumed and discarded were all absent. It should have been an eerie, nay, frightening place for anything familiar with the normal goings-on of the hive caverns, but to the Queen it seemed a thing of beauty. A new order of things had been established, and now it was time for her to pay the required price.

The sun vanished below the horizon, and the welcoming embrace of night's darkness swept up to the hive's entrance and filled the Queen with even greater resolve to act. With only a thought, she brought her army, the entire population of the hive, to attention, and in utter silence they formed up behind her in perfect ranks, ready to set out on the ultimate hunt.

* * *

The lights went up and an alarm blared, jolting Ash from his sleep. "What's happening?" he demanded, instantly alert as he dropped to the floor and looked around. The _Lirin_'s hatch was still closed and a cursory look around the main cabin revealed nothing out of the ordinary. "PC?" Ash prompted.

"_The secure locker containing the Chaotic Gems appears to be opening of its own accord_," the computer responded promptly. "_I can detect no traces of active magic, no signs of forced entry onto the ship, and external sensors show a unicorn whose life-signs correlate to Ray M'Dale or his counterpart __and an earth pony whose life-signs correlate to Carmilla deGrange or her countterpart._. Do I need to put the pieces together for you, sirrah?"

"No, I-" Before Ash could finish the thought, he felt an odd pressure like hands pressed against his throat.

The air began to swirl around the grey unicorn, and within the wind was a gruff-voiced whisper saying, "Sorry about this, but we took a vote and it didn't go your way." There was a sudden, sharp pain between Ash's eyes, and he staggered back, dazed but still upright.

"You again," he said, his speech slurred. "Carlez Baker?"

"You're a sturdy one," the wind-voiced spirit said in Ash's ear. "How will you be after this though?" There was another blow to Ash's head that felt like it penetrated several inches past his skull, quickly followed a sudden lurch of his heart, and then the world faded away to black.


	14. Chapter 13: Invasion

The next morning, Ash staggered out of the _Lirin_ looking like he'd been dragged behind a stage coach, and he found Soul Mage, Gold Heart, Gale, the Element Bearers wearing their Elements, and Spike all waiting for him outside. "Where's the party?" he said with a groan, running a hoof through his wilder-than-normal mane.

"Are you ok?" Heart, Fluttershy, and Rarity all asked at once.

"Nothing broken," Ash answered, "but I had some unwanted guests last night. The Chaotic Gems are gone."

"That's not good," Soul said grimly. "We've got enough trouble as it is without the Bipersonality Team getting mad at us for losing those things. Who took them?"

"I didn't see them," Ash said, "but PC detected a unicorn and earth pony nearby while I was getting walloped by invisible ghost fists. The thieves are the Bipersonality Team themselves."

"Huh," Applejack said, barely surprised. "Guess that explains why they weren't in the barn this mornin'. They scampered off an' covered their tracks."

"Don't be so quick to give up AJ," Ash began, but Spike cut him off.

"We've got much bigger problems right now," the dragon said, pointing to the distant form of Canterlot Castle. Ash craned his neck around and saw a large, shifting, shadowy something hovering just above the castle.

"That's the Changeling swarm," Twilight explained before Ash could ask. "Princess Luna sensed them approaching some time before dawn, but couldn't identify them until they already too close to get a barrier up around the city. There's something different about them, but the letter the Princesses sent to me wasn't clear on how. All that's important is that we get there _now_ and help with the defense. Can you teleport us, Ash? I'd prefer to save my strength for the fight, if that's ok with you."

"Twilight," Ash said, "after two years in a magical environment like Equestria with no maintenance, all my way-points have undoubtedly degraded away to nothing. But I still might be able to serve. PC," he called over his shoulder, "estimated time to fly to Canterlot at maximum speed, now."

"_Calculating_," PC responded. "_Assuming we are not intercepted, fifteen minutes. Should I prepare for take-off, sirrah?_"

"Is that acceptable Twilight?" Ash asked. Twilight frowned as she looked up at Canterlot, and after a moment's thought she nodded. "All aboard then," Ash ordered, whirling about and running inside the _Lirin_. "PC, start the engines."

"Fifteen minutes, huh?" Rainbow asked as everypony, except for Spike, filed in after Ash. "Not even I can do that. I'll believe it when I see it."

"This thing can cross a galaxy in a matter of months," Ash said, heading for the cockpit. "Everyone find a comfortable spot. It wasn't designed with ponies in mind, but it should be accommodating enough for a short trip." Gale and Twilight went to join Ash in the cockpit while everypony else tried with moderate success to fit onto the seats in the main cabin and get the harnesses on.

"This ain't too bad actually," Applejack noted.

"Speak for yourself," Rainbow said, shifting uncomfortably. "My wings don't fit right. And don't think I won't be timing the flight, Ash," she added in a louder voice.

"I assumed you would be," Ash called back. "PC, set the course, bring all scanners to bear on Canterlot, and get us moving." The computer acknowledged the command with a rising tone, and the ship's hatch rose up to the closed position as the entire craft began shaking lightly with the effort of lifting off. It turned around toward its destination and accelerated quickly, breaking the sound barrier just outside of Ponyville.

"You can fly faster than sound unassisted, Dash," Soul said conversationally once the ship reached top speed and the pressure of acceleration lifted from everypony. "Yet you can't make it to Canterlot in fifteen minutes?"

"Doing a Sonic Rainboom is one thing, Soul," Dash said. "Keeping that speed up by myself long enough to travel that far is something else entirely. I'd probably catch on fire or lose all my feathers and hair from the wind."

"Fair enough," Soul said.

Up in the cockpit, Twilight and Ash were having a conversation of their own. "When you say the ship can cross a galaxy in months, you weren't exaggerating, were you?" Twilight asked.

"Exaggeration is too much like lying for my taste," Ash answered. "The Shadowstar Empire spans hundreds of star systems and is constantly trying to expand into dozens more. Even the least advanced active participant in that war on either side has the capability of faster-than-light travel. The journey between Taryn and the edge of Empire would actually be a matter of weeks for most spacecraft I'm familiar with. The _Lirin_ is a mere long-range transport though, and I was flying pretty much blind with frequent stops to look around when I fled the Empire, so it took me longer."

"I'll gladly take your word for it," Twilight said. "My astronomy studies have given me theoretical knowledge of how vast the universe beyond Equestria could be, but I can't actually imagine distances that vast, seeing as I've never left this planet."

"Eh…" Gale and Ash both said, giving the lavender alicorn a look.

"B-besides Valden," Twilight corrected, blushing, "but that hardly counts, since it's a different universe entirely. I've never been out among the stars. To be able to study them up close and observe how Princess Luna's magic affects them, that would be a dream…" She trailed off as her thoughts took a different turn. "Something's different about the Changelings," she said in a more sober tone. "Something that made it much harder to identify them. What if it's one of the Gems?"

"That would be just our luck," Gale said. "Which ones are left again? Pearl, Ruby, and Amethyst, right?"

Ash nodded grimly. "Of course, our bothersome AWOL doppelgangers have the other four, so we can't even consider those accounted for, really. Twilight, if, once we get a good look at the Changeling army, we discover that they don't have a Gem augmenting their forces and my team's abilities aren't strictly needed, would you mind the four of us taking off to hunt down the Bipersonality Team?"

"I'd feel better with the four of you at our side," Twilight answered, "but if it comes down to just a contest between Queen Chrysalis and the Elements of Harmony, feel free to take off without us."

"So be it."

About ten minutes into the flight, the _Lirin_ began to slow and PC announced that the army of Changelings, which had now begun to establish footholds in Canterlot, was in range of the ship's scanners. Everyone waited on edge as the computer processed the data, and Ash's horn and magic-enhancing necklace glowed faintly in preparation to cast a defensive shield around the ship at a moment's notice. "_Analysis complete_," PC reported at last. "_The invading force could be classified as Changelings, but that is based solely on their physical appearance. They display none of their previously recorded abilities or strategies. The latent and active magic within the swarm consists 98% of Dark elemental energy, with negligible traces of all other elements, insufficient to register as a distinct pattern or signature._"

"That much Dark energy in one place can only mean one thing," Ash said.

"The Gem of Darkness," Twilight concluded darkly.

"Any indication of the Gem's location?" Gale asked.

"_The Dark element is too prevalent to allow identification of the point of origin or core at this moment_," PC answered. "_Regarding the defenders, Canterlot Castle remains untouched, the Royal Guard appear to have mobilized in full force to force the Changelings to land in only select parts of the city, and something of Chaotic origin has covered the commercial sector._" The view-screen turned on to display an impenetrable-looking pink cloud sitting over part of Canterlot, from which boots, boxing gloves, giant bells, and green lightning leaped out to knock about any Changeling that got too close. A battalion of Guards-ponies were lined up at the base of the cloud, facing outward and attacking Changelings as well.

"Oh, I bet that's Discord's doing," Pinkie said, having unstrapped herself from her seat to come up and take a look. "Thing's'll be really strange in there, I bet, but I also bet no place will be safer except for where the Princesses will be."

"Ok then," Ash said, sliding out of his chair. "Twilight, if PC finds a clear space, can you teleport us down without getting too tired?"

"At this distance, it'll be a piece of cake," Twilight answered confidently. "Try for the castle gardens, if possible please, PC."

"Follow her instructions, PC," Ash said, and then gently pushed Pinkie's head aside so he could poke his own into the main cabin and started giving orders. "On your feet everypony, and get ready for insertion. Priority one is reach Celestia or Luna and coordinate with them. Priority two is take down any Changelings that try and get in our way. PC, once the ship's empty, execute withdrawal maneuvers, rally point: Ponyville square."

"Withdrawal maneuvers?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"It means PC takes the _Lirin_ away from the warzone," Gale answered over Ash's head. "Can somepony be a pal and get my Gel launcher out of the cargo hold? It's in the locker on the left with the big latch."

"I got it," Applejack, being the closest to the stern, said.

There was some difficulty, and a few trodden-upon hooves and tails, involved in getting everypony out of their harnesses and grouped together in the confines of the _Lirin_'s main cabin because, as Ash had noted, the ship hadn't been designed with quadrupeds in mind and ten ponies made for a real crowd between the seats. Applejack was left standing at one end with Gale's gel-launcher sitting loosely on her back while Gale was stuck at the other end between Ash and Pinkie. Twilight squeezed her way into the middle and started channeling her magic into mass-teleporation, keeping her eyes closed to maintain concentration on the mental image of her destination. As the spell began to form bubbles of magenta light around each pony, an alarm sounded from the cockpit, followed by a sudden jolt that knocked everypony off their feet.

"_We're under attack_," PC reported before anyone could yell for an explanation. "_A detachment of Changelings is headed for the ship and casting waves of dark magic at us._"

"Hold steady!" Ash shouted. "I'm putting up a shield." His horn flared briefly, but the light just fizzled out. "Gah, really? Not enough free threads?!" Another attack hit the ship, and this time some of the energy entered the cabin and broke against Twilight's teleportation spell.

"Ngh," the alicorn grunted, trying to compensate for the interference. "Almost there…" More black energy poured in through the hull, and all at once the _Lirin_ started to spin uncontrollably as Twilight's spell finished with a bright flare of magenta light.

"_Danger, danger. Retreating!_" Under PC's near-infallible control, the ship broke out of its spin, righted itself, and flew away from Canterlot, leaving its attackers far behind. Were it capable of such an action and emotion, the computer would have heaved a sigh of relief as the Changelings turned back to rejoin the invasion. Evidently the creatures considered driving off those who might come to Canterlot's aid a sufficient strategy. Convinced that no further attacks were forthcoming, PC turned its attention to the ship's interior and discovered something. "_One life-form detected on board_," it said aloud, getting the attention of the dazed orange earth pony sprawled across a couple of seats along the starboard side. "_Please identify yourself by name_."

"Huh?" Applejack asked.

"_State your name_," PC repeated, patiently monotone.

"Don't ya already know it?" AJ asked, rubbing her head. She looked around and realized she was still on the ship, alone save for the seemingly disembodied, emotionless voice. "What in tarnation am Ah still doin' here?"

"_Please state your name_,"

"Applejack!" AJ snapped, extra miffed because she didn't have anything to glare at. "Ah'm Applejack, ya ornery squawk-box!"

"_Voice print matched to life-signs_," PC said dispassionately. "_Emergency command profile created. Since all authorized users are presently unavailable, convenience and security allows me to fully respond to your questions and commands until such time as I can be returned to Carmilla deGrange, Ash, or the M'Dale twins, in order of precedence._"

"Slow down," AJ said, finally managing to get to her feet. "Let me get this straight: you had me tell you mah name just so y'all could talk ta me?"

"_Yes_," PC relied. "_I can give you a full explanation as to why-_"

"Save it," Applejack said, waving a hoof impatiently. "What the hay happened, and why wasn't Ah telly-ported like the rest?"

"_Your guess is as good as my hypothesis_," PC said. "_I do not know all the factors involved, but there is a probability that the answer lies with the Gel launcher you were carrying._"

Applejack blinked in confusion as she tried to decipher PC's words, and once she figured it out she went over to where the launcher had fallen in the confusion. The cannon itself had a few dents in it, but the entire contraption seemed to have held together well enough. AJ examined it from every angle, and then partially by accident figured out how to open the ammo case. One of the compartments was filled with blue Shock Gel, but the others were empty except for some beige powder that clung to the earth pony's hoof when she poked it. "Shouldn't there be that Magebane magic-eatin' stuff in here?" she wondered.

"_There should_," PC confirmed. "_Hypothesis verified: interference from the Changeling attack caused the Magebane to react to the portion of Twilight's teleportation spell that should have affected you. Magebane, as you succinctly put it, 'eats' active magic, ergo you were not teleported._"

"Well shoot, if that ain't just what we needed," Applejack drawled. "And you, do ya hafta talk so fancy? You're about as confusing as Twilight after an all-day research project."

"_Your colloquialisms are not easy to decipher either, Applejack_," PC said. "_Nevertheless, we have both proven capable of making ourselves understood, so there is no need to change our language._"

_Now I understand why Ash is always arguin' with this thing_, Applejack thought. She made her way into the cockpit and found the head-mounted computer underneath one of the seats. She picked it up and set it on the control panel. "Great," she said, "now, how's about you take me to mah friends, PC?"

"_That will be difficult_," PC said. "_Locating them may be difficult, as they've likely moved from their arrival point. Traveling to them will be dangerous, as the _Lirin_ possesses no defenses of its own. I have instructions to keep the ship safe, and flying into the battle between the Dark Changelings and Canterlot's defenders would place it at extreme risk. This is complicated by your earth pony nature, lacking wings or magical ability to transport yourself quickly while the _Lirin_ remains at a safe distance._"

"If you're leading up to a 'no,' I'll tell you right now I ain't accepting that answer," AJ said firmly. "I may be an earth pony, but I'm the Element of Honesty too. Twilight and the others need me ta be at full strength. What's more important, protectin' this ship or saving th' day?"

"_Protecting the _Lirin," PC said bluntly. "_Should it be destroyed, the Order-naries cannot return home. I have my orders, and I must fulfill them. I cannot be made to feel guilty about that._"

"Why you!" AJ growled, raising a hoof threateningly over PC.

"_Question, Applejack: could you pilot this ship if I were to go offline due to being stepped on?_" AJ's hoof wavered, and then she stomped it down hard on the floor with a frustrated grunt. She stormed off into the main cabin, muttering under her breath, but PC caught most of the words. "_I am aware of my frustrating tendencies_," it said. "_It is a common error among organics to forget I lack true emotions that can be manipulated. Computer logic is all I can employ, and while I can accurately predict many things, I can't truly initiate a new idea on my own._"

"It ain't 'new ideas' we've got problems with," Applejack snapped, "it's… Wait just a minute here." She pondered, and smirked when an idea came to her. "PC," she said smugly, "what exactly did Ash say about getting' the ship away from Canterlot?"

"_To quote: '_PC, once the ship's empty, execute withdrawal maneuvers, rally point: Ponyville square,'" the computer said, executing a perfect recreation of Ash's voice, much to Applejack's amazement.

"Ok," she said once she got over her wonder, "he said 'once the ship's empty,' meanin' ya couldn't leave until everypony was gone, right?"

"_Correct_."

"Well," AJ said, smugly, "_Ah'm_ still here; the ship ain't empty yet, so y'all can't withdraw to Ponyville yet. You git me to mah friends right now, PC, or I'll hafta tell Ash you disobeyed an order."

"_Threats are unnecessary_," PC droned. "_I can and will dispute orders that seem illogical, foolhardy, or contradictory, but I never disobey. Before I comply, be aware of these facts: we are essentially defenseless, the ship has already suffered some damage, and it may not be feasible to drop you exactly where the Element Bearers are located._"

"Well, as long as you can get me into Canterlot and pointed in the right direction, I can probably make do," Applejack said. "That suit you?"

"_It suits me fine, Applejack_," PC said. "_Beginning scan for: Ash's magic signature, Spiriter energy, Twilight Sparkle's magic signature-_"

"I don't need all them details," Applejack said. "Just tell me when ya find 'em."

"_As you will_." The computer worked for a while, much longer than Applejack was comfortable with. It had only been a few minutes since everypony had teleported away, and they'd surely be sticking together. To Applejack's mind, that meant they'd be like a big spotlight shining through the darkness, something you couldn't help but spot almost immediately. When PC finally finished, the report came with the slightest hint of hesitation in its monotonous synthesized voice. "_It appears there were more complications with Twilight's spell than previously thought_," it said. "_The signatures I sought are scattered throughout the city, and I cannot sense Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Gale, or Pinkie Pie at this distance. What's more, I've detected Spiriter energy in two separate locations. Heart and Soul have been split up._"

"That's bad, ain't it?" Applejack asked.

"_It could also be good,_" PC answered. "_Depending entirely on who or what stands between them. Where should I attempt to insert you?_"

"Uh, I'd say wherever I'm needed the most," Applejack said. "I don't have the foggiest notion where that is though."

"_I'll begin calculating immediately,_" PC said, bringing the ship around and flying toward Canterlot at a cautious speed.


	15. Chapter 14: Unexpected Familiarity

"Now arriving at the Crystal Empire station. This is the end of the line folks; everypony must disembark."

"Hey, that's us," Johnten said, elbowing Traev hard in the ribs to break him away from his one-sided staring contest with the Diamond of Light.

"There still hasn't been another reaction," Traev said, giving the golden-yellow unicorn a hard sideways glance.

"End of the line means end of the line," Carrie said. "It can't hurt to look around a bit until the train's ready to return. Besides, we've skipped every other city and rest stop on the line, and I am sick of being on a train." Traev grumbled as he got off his seat and walked down the aisle toward the exit, the Diamond floating just above his head.

Just before they could hop off the train, they were intercepted by a smiling conductor. "It was a pleasure having such important ponies as yourselves on this trip," he said. "Best of luck in finding whatever it is you're looking for here."

"_Gracias_," Traev said insincerely, brushing past the conductor to hop down onto the station platform. Carrie followed him in silence, but Johnten paused to give the conductor a more sincere thanks before disembarking.

"That was curious," Johnten said as the team walked out of the station and into the shining crystal city proper. "We didn't tell anyone on that train who or what we are. Do you think that pony confused us for the Order-naries?"

"That's hardly a question," Traev said, rolling his eyes. "Although," he added after a second's thought, "perhaps we could turn that to our advantage for once. Those self-righteous sellswords obviously have a strong reputation, but we're so far away from what I assume is their normal range that the stories about them will be second- or third-hand rumors at best. We can use their identities as a cover if anyone asks any awkward questions."

"You are unbelievable." Traev glanced over to the human-shaped patch of shimmering air that only he and his teammates could see and hear under normal circumstances: the ghost known as Carlez Baker. "Don't you ever tire of playing your absurd game of secrets?" he asked. "It was bad enough back on Earth, trying to hide the existence of the Bipersonality Team from the public even when it was becoming impossible, or refusing to reveal your past even though the Crystalmasks were right on your doorstep. We just walked out on a whole bunch of ponies who have been extremely helpful, and now you want to masquerade as three of them? I've said it before, and I'll say it now: you have serious trust issues Traev."

"We're only here temporarily," Traev said patiently. "I don't see any value in bonding with creatures we're never going to see again, and it isn't fair to place them in harm's way fighting our battles." The Diamond suddenly started to glow, and Traev smiled with great satisfaction as he looked at it and concentrated. "You see?" he asked. "We don't need them. The Diamond still responds to Gems that lay unclaimed by us or Vanatos. Besides, we'll only play that card if we have to. It's more likely we'll just blend into the… crowds." They'd come farther into town, and they got their first sight of the Crystal Ponies. They seemed to be everywhere, walking around and conducting perfectly ordinary business with their coats and eyes shining in a rainbow of crystalline colors. It looked like a city of living gemstones.

Awestruck though she was, Carrie managed to get off a little dig at Traev. "Oh yes, we'll be completely invisible here."

A mare with a pale ruby coat and a cobalt mane noticed the trio and trotted over to them with a smile that seemed to literally increase her radiance. "Hello there," she said. "Let me guess, this is your first time visiting the Crystal Empire."

"How could you tell?" Traev asked dryly.

"You all have that starry-eyed look," the mare said. "It's ok, we all understand how uniquely shiny the Crystal Empire is. First-time tourists are always overwhelmed by the beauty. My name's Sapphire Rose, and I can show you around if you want."

"Thanks, but we'll be fine on our own," Traev said. Sapphire Rose looked mildly disappointed, but walked off without pressing the issue. Traev returned to his study of the Diamond, and after a moment the glow reached out of the gem, pointing toward the center of the city. "Follow," he instructed. The Gem led them down broad boulevards and through what appeared to be a cross between a market and a small-scale carnival. One stand's offering of crystal berries and another selling crystal corn caught Johnten and Carrie's interest for a moment, and the heavenly smell of cinnamon buns managed to distract even Traev at one point, but stubborn dedication and the lack of bits to purchase the tempting goods convinced the team to move on. They appeared so confident and legitimate to the ponies around them that none bothered to ask what their business was or why they were following a floating, glowing diamond.

The Diamond's glow grew stronger the closer it was brought to the palace at the center of the city, and it seemed to be pointing to the large heart-shaped crystal set on a thin pedestal in the center of a circular plaza beneath the palace. Traev lowered the Diamond and stared in puzzlement at the heart, trying to discern its nature. "_Skvetch_ and curse these pony eyes," he growled quietly. "Why can't I see the strings of magic anywhere in this world?"

"What is this thing?" Johnten asked, at a more normal volume.

"Why, that's the Crystal Heart, of course." Everypony jumped and yelped in fright, and upon turning around found Sapphire Rose smiling guilelessly at them.

"Where'd you come from?" Traev asked.

"I've been following you," Sapphire said truthfully, "just in case you had questions about anything, like the Crystal Heart. It's amazing, don't you think?"

"Mm," Carrie said, giving the Heart a critical look. "It doesn't look like much. What's the big deal?"

Sapphire gasped. "You don't know?" she exclaimed. "How could you have come to visit without learning about the Crystal Heart? Well, allow me to tell you all about it. You see, the Crystal Heart is literally the heart of the Crystal Empire. It's the source of all our magic and what makes everything and everypony that lives within its aura sparkle. It draws its power from the emotions of the Crystal Ponies; the happier we are, the more powerful the Heart is and the better protected we are from danger. I think it also has a positive effect on magic everywhere, but I'm not positive. I do know that it is our most important treasure and… what are you doing?" While Johnten and Carrie had been listening intently to Sapphire's explanation, Traev had been walking around the Heart, glancing between it and the Diamond of Light and only partially listening to Sapphire's lecture. She'd noticed him after he'd completed a couple of circuits, and she started to become suspicious. "You had better not be up to anything nasty," she said, "or Princess Cadance will kick you and that diamond of yours right out of the Empire."

"Don't worry," Traev assured, "I have no designs on your national treasure. I was just trying to figure out what the Diamond's telling me. I thought it had reacted to the Heart for some reason, but now I think it's indicating a Gem somewhere above us." He pointed to the palace structure arcing overhead.

"Uh," Sapphire said, looking up with a confused expression. "Oh, if you want into the palace, most of it is open to the public. Princess Cadance loves to have visitors. In fact, I think court officially opens in a few minutes."

"Lovely," Traev said flatly. "Well, if we have to deal with royalty, so be it." He passed the Diamond to Johnten to pack away, and then pointed at Sapphire, saying, "Show us to the front door, if you please."

* * *

Shining Armor's face was creased from the troubled thoughts plaguing him as he entered the Crystal Palace throne room at his wife's side. Cadance was well aware of his feelings and tried to project a measure of calming reassurance over him, but deep down she shared his worries. They had just come from a long-distance emergency conference with Celestia and Luna, aided by magically linked crystal mirrors kept in both Canterlot Castle and the Crystal Palace for just such purposes, and thus knew all about the sudden attack by the Dark Changelings. "We should be racing to Canterlot," Shining said, finally giving voice to both his and Cadance's thoughts. "It was our combined power that saved the day last time. What if it's needed now?"

"I know, Shiney," Cadance said, "but Aunt Celestia's reasoning for us staying here does make sense. We don't know if the Changelings will try to invade the Crystal Empire as well, and I can't direct the Crystal Heart's power of protection from anywhere but here. Besides, Twilight and her friends should be there soon, and they'll already have the Elements of Harmony with them. With that power, and the Order-naries, the Royal Guard, and my Aunts backing them, the Changelings shouldn't stand a chance anyway. We just need to have faith in them."

"And make sure the Empire can serve as a fall-back position," Shining Armor added with a sigh. "It's just not going to be easy having to sit back and wait."

Cadance mounted up on her throne and motioned for Shining to sit beside her, wrapping her hoof around his as he did so. "We'll be waiting together at least," she said warmly. "Shall we open court for the day?"

"Of course," Shining said. Cadance cast a spell that would cause bells throughout the public areas of the palace to ring, signaling to all who were waiting that court was officially open for the day. Almost immediately, the throne room doors opened and one of the court attendants walked in and bowed briefly at the foot of the throne before speaking. "My Princess," he said, "there is a group of ponies outside claiming to be the famous Order-naries, to use their own words, who insist that they will only speak of their business with you alone." He started to withdraw, but Cadance held up a hoof in a forestalling gesture.

"A moment, please," she said. The attendant nodded and stood at attention while Cadance conferred with shining Armor in low tones. "The Order-naries are supposed to be at Canterlot," Cadance said. "So what do you make of this? Could it be Changeling infiltrators?"

"Couldn't be," Shining replied. "We would know if any Changelings have tried to pass through the Crystal Heart's barrier."

"Unless they were already here before we knew about the invasion and I altered the barrier to repel Changelings," Cadance countered. "However, trying to mimic Ashen Blaze and the others in order to get close to us would be an oddly bold move for them."

Shining Armor nodded in agreement. "I'll feel better if we take a little precaution though," he said, and then cast a spell over the throne room that would cause any Changeling that entered to revert to their true form.

"Alright, you can show them in now," Cadance said to the attendant. The little Crystal Pony nodded and left the room. A few moments later, an ash-grey unicorn, a golden-yellow unicorn, and a brown earth pony walked in one after the other, all completely unaffected by Shining's spell. The Crystal Princess and her consort remained inwardly tense, as neither had failed to notice an obvious discrepancy between the trio before them and their memories of earlier years.

The ash-grey pony stopped slightly ahead of his companions at the foot of the throne and executed a bow that held only a veneer of respect. "Good morrow, Princess Cadance," he said, "I am Ashen Blaze and-"

"No, you are not," Cadance said tersely. "I know Ashen Blaze; I've met him personally, and he always addresses me, almost playfully, as _Madonna_ Cadenza. Additionally," she added, her tone lightening slightly as a smile teased at the corners of her mouth, "your group is short one pegasus mare. No, you are not Ash, you are not Soul Mage, and you are not Gale. You're also not Changelings, so that only leaves one possibility. You three must be that group of Order-nary look-alikes Princess Celestia told me about a few days ago when she asked the Crystal Empire to keep an eye out for highly magical gems."

The grey pony's jaw had dropped open partway through Cadance's deduction, but when the brown earth pony started snickering he clamped it shut and gave her a glare. "Ok, I obviously underestimated this world's communication quality," he said. "Let's start over. I'm Traev Maestron Brogalio, and these are my companions Carrie Chen and Johnten Drago. You already know about our Chaotic Gems, so I'll cut to the chase, Princess: I have reason to believe one of them is in this castle and I'd very much like to have it, if you don't mind."

"We did find what we believe to be a Chaotic Gem, yesterday," Cadance said. "But before I turn it over to you, would you please explain why you felt it was necessary to try and lie about your identities? Has something happened that makes you feel uncomfortable sharing your names with other ponies?"

"No," Traev said. "We didn't consider that word of us would have reached so far from Equestria already. Also, we prefer to limit any association between our battle for the Gems and the innocent residents of whatever worlds we fall into."

Cadance looked confused. "Are you trying to tell me that all the help Twilight Sparkle and her friend have given you was all unappreciated?" she asked.

"Somewhat appreciated," Traev allowed, "but accepted under heavy protest, as they could attest. This isn't your fight, and we aren't going to drag you into it."

Shining Armor laughed incredulously. "You've been hanging around my little sister, and the Order-naries, for days," he said. "Haven't you learned by now that if anything potentially disastrous is happening, Twilight Sparkle and her friends and family will be involved? You've got help, whether you want it or not."

Traev sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Fine, I'll submit to the inevitable," he said. "If you want to be helpful, how about getting us that Gem?"

"All right," Cadance said. Turning to her husband, she asked, "Shining, would you please show out guests to the…" A curious look crossed her face for a few seconds, but then she shook off her distraction and cleared her throat politely. "Take them to the Gem we found," she said to Shining, and then got off her throne. "Join me in the tower afterwards," she added, whispering in his ear, "I think something is testing our border." Shining nodded, and Cadance teleported away.

"Follow me, you three," Shining Armor said to the Bipersonality ponies. He lead them out of the throne room, intending to take them down to the royal treasury, one of the most secure rooms in the palace and thus ideal for storing powerful artifacts. They got no farther than the antechamber, however, when Cadance materialized in front of them and without a word caught them all up in a teleportation spell that deposited them at the top of the palace's tower. "Cadance?" Shining asked, troubled.

"Traev, Johnten, Carrie," Cadance said, pointing toward one of several large crystal lenses set up at regular intervals around the edge of the tower, "could one of you possibly identify the creature out there? I've never seen anything quite like it."

"And you think we can identify it because…?" Traev asked as he went over to the crystal. It turned out to be enchanted to provide a magnified view of the distant border between the Crystal Empire and the snow-gripped, unclaimed lands beyond, and Traev's grumpy attitude vanished in a blink as he saw the monster that was the subject of Cadance's question. Eight feet tall if he was an inch, with a draconic wingspan equally wide or greater, a face fit only for a gargoyle, and his body divided into perfect quarters of glowing red, blue, yellow, and green, the demon was standing in the snow, dragging the claws of one hand along the barely visible barrier that denied him entry, staring up at the pinnacle of the palace.

"Vanatos," Traev said grimly.

"So, it's time then," Johnten said, looking through the crystal himself. "He probably knows we're here. Why is he just toying with that barrier?"

"So long as the positive emotions and confidence of the Crystal Ponies give power to the Crystal Heart, nothing of evil intent can enter the Crystal Empire," Princess Cadance said.

"You have not seen what Vanatos is capable of," Traev said.

"You haven't seen the Crystal Heart expel the spirit of the unicorn that hid it and the entire Empire from Equestria for over a thousand years," Shining Armor countered. "Even if this Vanatos does get in, he won't find it easy to remain."

"It's nice that you're so confident," Carrie said. "We're not trying to get away from him though; we intend to fight. Give us the Gem you found, and we'll go out to face him somewhere where your home isn't at risk."

Shining nodded and walked toward the stairs at a brisk, disciplined pace. "It may be quicker if you head for the border now," he said. "I'll meet you there with the Gem. And remember, you don't have to be out there alone if you don't want to. As long as you mean no harm to the Heart, the Empire's shield will let you pass through and protect you if you have to pull back."

"That shouldn't be necessary," Traev said. "We intend to finish it quickly, and then we'll be out of your hair for good. The offer is appreciated though, soldier."

"The name's Shining Armor," the white stallion said, smiling. "Good luck."


	16. Chapter 15: Scattered Forces

Everything was bubbles.

Pinkie Pie rubbed her eyes, looked again, and realized her first impression hadn't been quite right. Everything was merely _covered_ in bubbles. Soap bubbles, mostly, but here and there she saw soda bubbles, bubbles of water, and bubbles she wasn't sure she wanted to know the composition of. Even the street beneath her hooves was covered in a thick soapy layer, and so Pinkie tried her best to keep her legs completely still and steady as she looked around. Face-plants and pratfalls were only funny if done on purpose in front of the right audience, otherwise they just hurt. Beneath all the bubbles, Pinkie thought she recognized some of the buildings around her as belonging in Canterlot's commercial district. The sky was a uniform pink cloud that had no apparent effect on the light passing through it; everything was colored correctly as far as she could tell. The street she was on was deserted except for her, and Soul Mage.

The golden-yellow unicorn realized that last fact at the same time Pinkie did, and his irises shrank slightly. "Gold Heart?" he asked plaintively, looking around wildly and slipping on the bubble-covered street. "Heart! Where are you?" He lost his footing and landed hard, dazed as his chin struck pavement.

"Oh no, are you ok Soul?" Pinkie asked, moving as quickly as she dared over to him.

"Sister," Soul moaned, trying without success to get back on his hooves. "Hafta find my sister."

"Don't move so fast," Pinkie advised. "You're just making yourself more… bubbly in a bad way. Just don't freak out please; the others have got to be somewhere around here."

"Right… right," Soul said, growing still except for his eyes, which were starting to twitch.

"Oh, so you're what dropped in." Pinkie and Soul looked up to see Discord fly in over a nearby building and stop a foot off the ground in front of them. "You two don't look so good," he said. "Let me help." He snapped his fingers and the bubbles and slick soap instantly vanished from underneath the two ponies.

"Where's my sister, Discord?" Soul asked, his voice hard with accusation.

"Search me," the dragonequus said with a shrug. "You two are the only ones that just arrived, and I haven't been paying much attention to the outside world."

"Don't mess with me Discord," Soul growled. "I will rip you apart if I have to."

"Hey, hey," Pinkie said, throwing herself between Discord and Soul. "Calm down Soul. It's not Discord's fault; something probably just messed up Twilight's teleportation spell."

"I don't think that's gonna work Pinkie," Discord said, gently pulling the pink pony away from Soul. "He and his sister lose it pretty quick if they're kept apart against their will. I exploited that once, and now… Hey!" He darted forward suddenly and gripped Soul's head firmly between his hands. "Let me ease that a little," he said. "I'll just help you forget Heart for a bit and-_yowch!_" Soul blasted him away and into the side of a building, and then held him there with a trio of spirit tendrils wrapped around his body, tail, and neck. "Ok, I instantly regret that," Discord groaned. "Hey," he shouted at Soul, "since when was attacking me more important that reuniting with your dear sister anyway? I'm not stopping you from sensing the general direction you should go to find her, you know."

Soul froze, and some of the anguish melted off his face. "I just got smacked with logic by Discord," he said in a small voice. "This is truly a dark day. I need Heart." He released Discord, closed his eyes, and turned around slowly until he was facing an east-bound road. "This way!" he exclaimed charging forward, and promptly lost his footing and face-planted once he left the patch of street Discord had cleared of bubbles.

Discord chuckled at the sight, but at a disapproving look from Pinkie he composed himself and banished every bubble in sight. "Have fun storming the castle, or whatever gets in your way," he said as Soul got back to his feet again and took off. "Those Changelings aren't pushovers, despite how easy I may make it look."

Pinkie started to run after Soul, but then stopped and looked back at Discord. "Princess Celestia knows what you're doing here, right?" she asked.

"She told me to keep Changelings away from this part of Canterlot and the ponies in it safe from harm," the dragonequus answered smugly. "Beyond that, I've got free reign."

"Okie dokie, that's good enough for me," Pinkie said, and then galloped after Soul, yelling at him to slow down so she could catch up.

* * *

When the flare of magenta magic faded, Gale found herself standing in the middle of a large, stone-walled room, surrounded by a large squad of very startled Royal Guard unicorns. A quick glance around informed Gale that she was the only pony from the _Lirin_ in the room at that precise moment, and so she lowered her head and flattened her ears, glancing around with a sheepish grin. "Well, this is awkward," she said.

"Who are you, and where did you come from?" one of the guard – the squad's sergeant if Gale understood the insignia on his armor – challenged her.

Faced with such a direct challenge, Gale's normal confidence returned to her in a flash and she raised her head to look the sergeant square in the eye as she gave her response. "I am Gale, of the Order-naries," she said. "I've come at the behest of the Princesses to help defend the city against the Changelings, along with the rest of my team and the Elements of Harmony. Unfortunately, it appears there was hiccup with the teleportation spell that's caused us all to become seperated. I'm about to count myself lucky I ended up in the middle of you fine stallions, and not a swarm of Changelings." She looked the room over more closely under the guise of looking at all the other guards and realized it was an armory, and along one wall was a long rack holding several saddle-mounted Gel Launchers with spare ammo containers. "Oh, I'm particularly lucky, I guess," she said, starting toward the launchers. Two guardsponies moved to block her, and she heaved a sigh before turning back to the sergeant.

"We were just about to gear up and join the defense," the sergeant said, "and suddenly you appear. Can you confirm your identity?"

Gale let out an insulted snort, but reason caught up to her before she could say anything belligerent. "Right, Changeling attack," she said, calming herself. "Well, you're all unicorns here; somepony has to know the detection spell, right?" She and the sergeant both looked around at the squad, but nopony stepped forward. Gale then looked at the sergeant with a raised eyebrow, and he just coughed in embarrassment. "Gee, this inspires confidence," Gale deadpanned.

"A couple of us should just stay here to keep an eye on her," one of the stallions said, glancing impatiently at the door.

"No way," Gale said. "I came to fight Changelings, and I'm not staying behind because you don't trust me." She pointed to the Gel Launchers and looked the sergeant square in the eye. "Those should come with Magebane. It'll stop any kind of magic, including Changeling disguises. Hit me with some." She reared up and spread her front legs wide, presenting her chest as a target with confident challenge in her eyes. The sergeant met her gaze with a measuring look, and then smirked and walked over to the Gel Launchers. He settled one of them onto his back and secured the girth straps magically while checking through the ammo containers until he found one with Magebane in it. He snapped it into place on the opposite side of the saddle from the launcher and then turned to take aim at Gale. Gale held her upright pose without flinching.

"Your bravery and request for this test is almost enough to convince me," the sergeant noted.

"Don't be a fool," Gale said. "Fire." The sergeant complied, biting down on the trigger, and a Magebane gel struck Gale on the chest, knocking her off her feet and onto her back. She rolled quickly and easily to her hooves and scraped some of the gel off to flick away dismissively. "Now you can be convinced," she said. "And if there aren't any more objections," she added, shooting a warning glare at one guard who had opened his mouth in what could have been a protest, "I'm going to borrow one of these launchers for myself and lend you a hoof." At the sergeant's approving nod, the guards parted to allow Gale access to the rack of Gel Launchers, and she looked them over critically before selecting one and putting it on. "No configuration for multiple gel types," she said in a low voice. "All built virtually the exact same way with no consideration for individualized touches, but easily adjusted to fit most sizes. Clearly mass-produced, but with an eye toward quality over quantity. It's not my Gel Launcher by any means, but I doubt I could find a better substitute anywhere." She loaded it with Magebane, and then looked at the sergeant expectantly. "This is your outfit," she said, "so I'll follow your lead."

"Right. Welcome aboard then." The sergeant started barking orders and the squad quickly armed themselves for battle. To Gale's surprise and slight satisfaction, about half the squad claimed the remaining Gel Launchers, while the remainder took up spears or hooks mounted on long poles. They formed up into a line, with Gale placed near the middle, and marched double-time out of the armory and into an unnaturally dark Canterlot street that Gale thought she recognized as being close to where she and Ash had had apartments. She looked up, dreading that the deep shadows that lay over the city came from a sky thick with Changelings, but what she saw was arguably worse. There were lots of Changelings overhead, but the darkness was due to a black haze that hung over everything, blocking the sun's light and obscuring the black chitin of the invaders. As far as Gale could tell, the Changelings were not attempting to capture ponies, as they had during the wedding invasion, but were more intent on reaching the castle and breaking down buildings to block the roads and occupy as much of the Royal Guard's focus as possible. Flashes of dark, dark green energy arced from Changeling horns and into walls, silently punching holes in them until they collapsed, and every now and then brightly colored flares of magical light went off at various points throughout the city, which attracted Changelings like moths to flames.

After the squad formed up with all weapons pointed skyward, the sergeant sent off a magical flare of his own, coincidently catching a group of Changelings in the burst. The insectoid ponies screeched in pain and fled from the light, but as it faded they regrouped and dove at the guardsponies, and the battle began. Gale held her fire for several moments and merely observed the guards, studying their movements and tactics in order to coordinate her own efforts smoothly with theirs. Those bearing Gel Launchers mainly fired simple sticky globs likely intended to blind the targets or foul their wings, although in actuality the Changelings managed to dodge most of the projectiles. Any Changeling that flew too low would be snared through their perforated legs by the hooked poles and pulled down to the ground to be subjected to merciless kicks and spear thrusts until they could break away and retreat into the shadows. The Changelings quickly learned to keep their distance, and returned fire with bolts of dark green magic that were just barely dispersed by rapidly-raised barriers. The unicorns were forced onto the defensive, and Gale found her role in the fight. Taking aim at a quartet of Changelings that were grouping together to attack simultaneously, she fired just as they released their magic. The Magebane met the blasts halfway, and the magic was visibly sucked into the yellow gel, which then broke down into a fine powder. Without pausing, Gale loaded the next shot and spun about to fire at and interrupt another dark blast, and then another. She wasn't able to stop every bolt from reaching its target, but her efforts gave the guardsponies enough breathing room to mount a more effective counterattack. The sticky gels started to hit, grounding one Changeling and forcing a few more to retreat blindly, and those guards carrying the more conventional weapons switched to spellwork. The number of Changelings engaged in the battle began dwindling quickly, as those that were wounded withdrew into the nearest shadows and seemingly vanished. Within minutes, the last of them retreated, and the sergeant ordered the squad to proceed toward the castle.

"There is something very strange going on here," Gale said. "I mean, Changelings aren't the toughest bugs I've ever met, but they weren't as quick to retreat in the last invasion."

"They held the advantage last time," the sergeant replied. "Soldiers are less likely to give up if victory seems possible."

"Well I don't know about you," Gale said, looking up at the shadowed sky, "but it seems to me like they have a greater advantage now, boosted or altered by some dark magic. I'm starting to think these might not even be the same Changelings as last time." The squad rounded a corner and found five Changelings in the process of pinning a pony with a distinctive rainbow-striped tail to the ground. "Rainbow Dash!" Gale cried as the guardsponies charged forward and bowled four of the Changelings away.

"Gale!" Rainbow cried happily. She threw her last assailant into the air, and then shot up to grab and slam it back onto the pavement, pinning its wings with her rear legs while leaning heavily on its head with one forehoof. "Nice, you brought the cavalry," she said appreciatively of the Royal Guards.

"Have you been fighting all by yourself?" Gale asked.

"Didn't have any other choice," Rainbow answered. "I was doing pretty well for myself too, until one of 'em got the jump on me. Uh, please don't tell anypony that happened, ok?"

Gale rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say Dash. Now, are you going to stand on that hostage all day, or do you want to come with me and the cavalry to the castle? Hopefully from there we can find everyone else."

Rainbow pretended to think about it for a second, and then hopped off the Changeling and turned to face it. "Sorry buddy, "she said, "looks like we'll have to play some other time." She turned around and gave it a firm, one-hoof buck to the face, and the Changeling promptly burst into a wisp of shadows and faded away. Rainbow, Gale, and every guard that witnessed it froze in horror. "What did I just do?" Rainbow said in an uncharacteristically weak voice.

* * *

"You're sure it wasn't deliberate?"

"Reasonably sure, yes. On your left." Twilight turned and blasted a pair of Dark Changelings that had tried to sneak up on her, launching them deep into the crowd that pressured her and Ash from three sides. "For one thing," Ash continued conversationally, "how would they have known we'd try teleporting out instead of landing the _Lirin_ somewhere? And even allowing for that and the low probability that anypony could even hijack your spells in the first place, why would they drop the pair of us practically at the castle's doorstep?"

"Ok, that makes sense," Twilight said, zapping another Changeling that poked its head too far above the main group.

"Now, the real question," Ash said, pulling his own weight with a mixture of lightning and force spells. "Do you want to stand around here all day protecting the doors, or go on a little pony hunt for your friends?"

A deep, droning buzz rose up in the distance and quickly smothered all other sounds. Twilight and Ash looked up to find the source of the sound, and took several steps backward in surprise as Queen Chrysalis landed in front of them, along with four Changelings that dwarfed even her in both height and weight. Everything about them except their comparatively stubby horns was thick and powerful-looking, and their hooves were merely pockmarked instead of holey. Chrysalis was only recognizable by her unique profile; every part of her that had once had color was now a flat black, except for her now-violet eyes and the white fangs she bared in a sneer at Twilight and Ash. A large black stone was wedged into a hole in her front-left leg, and it gave off a faint purplish-black aura.

"I'm not surprised to see you handling yourselves so well against my children, Twilight," she said. "But I don't think you've met the newest additions to my army." She waved a hoof and one of the giant Changelings began walking forward slowly. "They're much too big to pass as ponies," Chrysalis admitted, "but once I've conquered Canterlot, we won't need to hide ourselves anyway."

"That presumes your victory, queenie," Ash said. He traced patterns on the ground with a hoof as he gathered magic into his horn and necklace, staring the approaching tank of a Changeling in the eye fearlessly. "You know what they say about big, hulking monstrosities? They fall hard. _Kiyaski_!" A blinding, deafening twin bolt of lightning leaped from his horn to the big Changeling's face, and the hulking brute absorbed it all without the tiniest flinch. "Oh. _Skvetch_." His shock only got worse when the energy he'd just poured into the Changeling started to gather at the tip of its horn. "Are you _skvetchte kidding_ me?"

"Get down, Ash!" Twilight screamed, pulling him down to the ground just before the Changeling attacked. Lightning cracked through the air again just over the ponies' heads and tore a gaping hole in the castle doors behind them. Twilight glanced up at the hole, then at the Changelings as they started to walk toward her, and then hauled Ash up in her magic and carried him behind her as she dived through the hole. "Sorry Ash," she said, "but I think we need a new strategy for those things."

"You won't hear any complaints from me, once you _put me down_," Ash said. Twilight obliged, and the two ran farther into the castle as the main doors started to splinter under the hooves of the giant Changelings. "Oversized, extra strength, shrug off most attacks, that's all fine," Ash muttered as he ran, stopping at every door to help Twilight barricade it in the hopes of slowing down the Changelings or even giving them the slip. "To add full-strength magic reflection to that, that's just _skvetchte_ che– oof!" He rebounded off Princess Celestia's side and before he or Twilight could react to her presence she swept them both into a side room and blocked the door with a chaise lounge helpfully provided by her sister, who also happened to be in the room.

"Now," Celestia said calmly, "would one of you please explain what's going on?"

Panic, fear, and adrenaline warred with Twilight's rationality, and she barely managed to get them all under control before dropping her head in shame and answering. "I'm sorry, Princess Celestia. I tried to bring everypony like you asked, but something interrupted my teleportation spell and so they're all scattered to who-knows-where. We ran into Queen Chrysalis, but she had some new kind of giant Changelings with her that were too tough for Ash, so we had to run and now they're probably in the castle and I'm _so_ sorry."

"Shhh," Celestia soothed, putting a leg around Twilight's shoulders. "Do not worry yourself over the castle; it's only a building after all."

"Verily," Princess Luna said. "So long as my sister and I are not taken by the foe, and our ponies still stand to fight, there can be no victory for the Changelings."

"That's a fine sentiment, Luna," Ash said, "but if we can't come up with a way to counter-" Just then, a Changeling crashed through the window, tumbling expertly to its hooves amid the shattered glass and trailing an aura of night-blue peppered with star-like sparkles. "Oh come _on_," Ash said in exasperation, and then noticed the aura pouring off the Changeling's head like a mane and its teal, dragon-like eyes. His jaw dropped in disbelief.

"Nightmare?" Luna and Twilight exclaimed, both recognizing the tell-tale traits of the odd Changeling.

"I've finally found you," the Changeling said in a voice that lacked its species' distinctive buzz. It then collapsed into a senseless heap as the Nightmare aura flowed out of it and leaped toward Luna.


	17. Chapter 16: Elemental Round-up

Everypony reacted at once and with amazing coordination. Luna leaped straight up toward the ceiling to dodge the leaping Nightmare while Celestia and Twilight both shot quick bolts of light magic at it, causing it to stop and shrink into itself with apparent pain, and then Ash pounced on top of it, literally breathing the sparkling night-dark aura in as he passed through it. He hit the ground and remained motionless for several seconds, and then black splotches started appearing on his coat, his mane and tail both started twitching wildly, and he began screaming while holding his mouth firmly shut with both front legs. Luna quickly landed, and she, Celestia, and Twilight all gathered around Ash with their horns aglow but unsure whether to act or not. The black splotches grew until roughly half of Ash's coat was recolored, and then the muffled screams stopped and his eyes opened. One eye was the normal vivid green, but the other was teal and had a vertically slit pupil.

"Ash?" Twilight asked, hesitantly hopeful but fearing the worst. The unicorn's mismatched eyes flicked over to her for a second, but then focused on Luna as he got back to his feet.

"Don't you want me back, Luna?" he asked, his plaintive voice pitched in a barely recognizable imitation of Nightmare Moon. "Wasn't I a part of you? Some of your power still resides in me, forcibly removed by this… creature forcing me to speak to you through him. You must miss it."

"I've had more than enough time to regain that power on my own," Luna said. "Nor do I miss the whispers of petty jealousy and discontent. Begone, Nightmare; release Ashen Blaze and fade into obscurity. You will find no welcoming home, let alone a kingdom, in any land where _my _moon watches over the night."

The Nightmare stood in motionless silence for a moment, and then lowered its eyes with a scornful chuckle. "Even if I believed you," she said, "Ashen Blaze is refusing to let me go. He's 'lending' me his body and energy, but refuses to let our minds become as one. If his will were just a little weaker, I'd-" Its head jerked back suddenly, and for a brief moment the teal eye returned to Ash's normal green, but then it changed back and the Nightmare grumbled angrily, "Aggravating stallion."

"What were you doing controlling that Changeling?" Twilight asked, pointing to the unmoving insectoid pony by the window.

"Surviving, barely," the Nightmare said dryly as it looked at the Changeling. It then looked at the broken window and cast a spell that covered it with an opaque black barrier. "I'm honestly surprised they haven't all tried coming in through the windows," it said in an aside. "Changelings make terrible vessels for me," it said, looking back at the alicorns. "The whole race is starving and yet they all trust and obey Queen Chrysalis to the extent that they have almost no personal ambition to sustain me. I was going to take Chrysalis herself, or die trying, but someone else got to her first. A large creature, garishly colored." It paused for a moment as if distracted by a passing thought. "Ash suspects it answers to the name of Vanatos, a monster from another universe somewhat like Tau'rin, and yet not."

"That stone lodged in Chrsyalis's leg!" Twilight exclaimed. "Vanatos must have done what he tried to do with Discord and the Topaz: give her a Chaotic Gem in exchange for a promise to use it for revenge. Everything about this invasion is simply oozing with Dark elemental magic. Although, that stone didn't look like an amethyst…"

"I gather you witnessed this exchange, Nightmare," Celestia said stoically. "I'm curious why that would have prevented you from attempting to possess the Changeling Queen anyway. The element of Darkness would suit you well."

"Oh, I was tempted," the Nightmare said, rolling her eyes. "But you see, this invasion's been in the works for a couple of days, and in that time I saw enough to convince me that I want nothing to do with the power Chrysalis has now. Call it an attack of conscience."

"Why though?" Luna asked. "What has Chrysalis done that would appall even you?"

"Don't _you _dare look down on me, Luna," the Nightmare said. "Deny me all you want, but we were one and the same once. Do you even remember our purpose for existing together? Attention, respect for the night, _appreciation_. For that, you need subjects; living, breathing, free-thinking ponies to serve and worship you."

"Until your eternal night destroys their crops and freezes them to death," Twilight deadpanned.

"Would you let me finish, filly?" the Nightmare snapped.

"I will once you stop trying to justify yourself and get to the point," Twilight countered.

The Nightmare glowered at Twilight, and then rolled her eyes again. "The dark power of the Gem Chrysalis received has altered the Changelings so drastically that they're now little better than constructions of pure magical energy. I don't know if Chrysalis is aware of this, but most of her army isn't even real anymore."

"I'd say it's real enough," Twilight said. "Whatever the case is," she continued, starting pace as she entered lecture mode, "our best bet is to re-gather the Elements of Harmony before taking the fight to Chrysalis and getting the Gem of Darkness away from her. The problem is, I have no idea where everypony ended up, and there may be more of those hulking, magic-reflecting Changelings around. I don't know if we can even hold out long enough to find everypony."

The Nightmare started to laugh, a low chuckle at first as it looked down at the ground, and then it started to rise in pitch and volume. Before the sound could reach the level of a full-voiced, evil laugh it was cut short with a strangled hitch of breath and the darkness rapidly flowed off Ash's body and gathered into a sparkling cloud contained within an orange glow of magic just above the tip of Ash's horn.

"Ok, I've had enough of the evil ham routine," Ash said. "Not that I don't approve of savoring the moment, but is not the time or place, Noctus." The Nightmare aura writhed insolently within the unicorn's magic, but he seemed unimpressed.

"What was so funny?" Luna asked.

"To make it short," Ash answered, "Noctus here could move through Chrysalis's artificial darkness undetected and very quickly. Assuming all the Element Bearers, and my team, are in Canterlot, she could find them all within minutes. By herself, however, she wouldn't be able to transport any of them to us, and I don't know if she'd even last very long without a willing host."

"You're suggesting one of us must submit to the Nightmare," Celestia said.

"I'm volunteering," Ash responded. "She wants Luna, but of course that's not going to happen. No offense to you or Twilight, Princess, but I don't think either of you could keep ahold of your own minds under her power. I'm the only dependable option."

"Is the risk really any less for you, Ashen Blaze?" Celestia asked pointedly.

"After the last few minutes, do you honestly doubt me?" Ash countered.

Celestia paused in thought, and then smiled serenely. "I suppose if anyone can master the Nightmare, it would be the pony who removed it from Luna in the first place."

Twilight grabbed Ash in a tight hug, being careful not to touch Noctus, and whispered, "I trust your judgment, but be careful, ok?"

"You have my word," Ash said. Satisfied, for Ash's word was as binding as a Pinkie Pie Promise, Twilight stepped back and let him proceed with pulling Noctus back into himself. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, but then suddenly Ash's body underwent a transformation even more dramatic than the previous possession. The starry aura of the nightmare surrounded him as he grew to match Twilight's stature, his horn elongated slightly, and a pair of midnight-black wings appeared on his sides. His coat took on the same midnight black color, his eyes shifted to the Nightmare's distinctive teal draconic shape, and his mane and tail were transfigured into billowing smoke laced with red embers, and glowing like fire at the roots. Even his magic-enhancing necklace underwent a transformation into a single, solid collar of fused gemstones with the symbol of _Meis Thamule_ engraved in the large, central ruby section and filled in with gold. Only his cutie mark remained unchanged. "I'd find a good location to lure Chrysalis to for the showdown, if I were you," he said to the Princesses, his voice sounding a bit more grandiose but still uniquely his own. "Somewhere defensible too; this may require multiple trips, but I'll be as quick as possible. Stay alive." With that, he turned into a dark mist and flew out of the room through the window.

"Was that Ash talking, or the Nightmare?" Twilight wondered aloud.

"A little of both, I would say," Luna said. The door shuddered as something outside began pounding on it like a battering ram. "I think it's time we left," Luna said. "I recommend the Night Tower; it should be easy for three of us to hold against the enemy."

"Anywhere's better than here," Twilight said as a large Changeling hoof burst through the door. The three alicorns teleported as one, and by the time the Changelings finished battering the door open and poured into the room, there was no sign it had ever been occupied.

* * *

The being that was Ashen Blaze, Noctus, and both at once flew silently and invisibly through the artificial night engulfing Canterlot, appearing outwardly as nothing more than wisps of dark smoke nearly impossible to discern against the shadows. The battle between the Dark Changelings and the city's defenders was now fully engaged, and except around the pink dome covering Discord's area the Changelings seemed to be pushing the Royal Guard back toward the castle on every side. Ash/Noctus flitted about, going from one pocket of fighting to the next, ignoring the urge to materialize with dramatic flair and beat Changelings back. Ash's iron will and pragmatism kept them on task, despite Noctus's tempting whispers.

Technically they were of one mind now due to the extent Ash had allowed Noctus to meld her essence with his, but the stream of their background thoughts as they searched the city resembled a dialogue more than anything else.

**_This is something I could get used to._**

_I have to remember it's only temporary though; that was the agreement._

**_That doesn't discount future arrangements. This form deserves a name of its own._**

_Nothing with 'Nightmare' in it though, assuming…_

**_Maybe something derived from the origin of Noctus then? Noctu-_**

_Is that my _ship_?!_

Sure enough, through the distant haze of darkness Ash could see the _Lirin_ flying about erratically in an attempt to dislodge the Changelings that clung to it like barnacles. Barnacles with deadly sharp teeth, as one bit into a section of the ship's hull and tore it open as Ash approached. Rage filled Ash's mind at the sight of his property being damaged, and in a blink he was in the midst of the Changelings and materialized in a burst of flames. One Changeling, a mere construct of the darkness, disintegrated outright and two others were blown away and lost to sight. The remainder paused to look at the smoldering newcomer, and that lapse of activity proved to be their downfall. "Get. Off. My. Ship!" Ash cried, punctuating each word with a magical blow that sent multiple Changelings flying until the ship was clear of them. Satisfied but still angry, Ash gave the _Lirin_ a quick look-over. The hull was torn open in several spots, but the wings looked sturdy and the ship as still flying, so Ash teleported inside to take PC to task for blatant violation of orders and common sense. He only had enough time after materializing in the main cabin to draw in a deep breath before Applejack bucked him in the side of the head, which sent him flying into the wall.

"Take that, ya no-good Changeling," AJ said with a snort.

"Easy Applejack," Ash said, ignoring the ringing in his ears. "It's me, Ashen Blaze."

"Ash?" AJ exclaimed. "What in the haycorn happened to you?"

"Long story," Ash answered, standing up and getting his wings settled right. "What the _skeb _are you doing on the _Lirin_?"

"I never got off," the earth pony answered. "When Twilight's spell went off, it just used up all the Magebane I was carryin' fer Gale. I talked PC into trying to get me to the castle or wherever the rest of y'all wound up. I'm kinda regrettin' that now."

"PC," Ash prompted.

"_Voice print recognized as Ash_," the computer said. "_Reestablishing standard command protocols. That new look of yours befits _Meis Thamule_ more than Ash the Pragmagic, sirrah._"

"No argument there," Ash said, looking himself over. "What's the damage?"

"_Multiple breaches to the outer hull, one engine has been taken offline for safety, and internal systems are suffering several minor glitches due to magical interference. My own hardware is undamaged. Flight is still possible, but interdimensional travel is not recommended at this time._"

"_Skvetch_," Ash swore loudly, and then brought his/Noctus's frustration under control. "One disaster at a time," he said. "One moment." He returned to the exterior of the ship and, after discouraging some Changelings from taking an interest in it, tapped Noctus's power to wrap the _Lirin_ in a shield that would hide it from sight and protect it from further damage. Going back inside, he instructed, "PC, head for the castle and land as close to where Twilight and Princesses are. Remain there unless the _Lirin_ is in danger of destruction. Get the _skeb_ out of town if that happens."

"_Despite how recent events may appear, I do know how to protect the _Lirin_, sirrah_."

"Just don't you dare fail me," Ash said, and then he was gone like smoke in the wind.

"That's just downright creepy," Applejack said to herself.

* * *

Ash and Noctus found Rarity and Fluttershy in the gardens, utilizing three transplanted hedges, four particularly thorny rose bushes, and a tree with wide-spreading branches and thick foliage as an improvised fort guarding what would otherwise have been an easy way inside the castle through the event hall. Fluttershy had managed to coax the toughest and bravest of the garden's animals into fighting, and so the Changelings trying to get through found themselves constantly bombarded with nuts and rocks thrown from the tree, swarmed by birds of all shapes and sizes, and rendered blind and confused by spells of light and illusion thrown out by Rarity. Over it all, Philomena harassed a few Changelings that tried to come in from above. One Changeling got lucky and smashed the pheonix's ribs in, but paid for it when Philomena grabbed its horn with her last breath, so that she was lying across its eyes when she burst into flames to regenerate.

Ash landed with a flourish of magic that cleared the area immediately around the improvised fort of Changelings, and then struck a pose that put him in profile.

"My word," Rarity said, flustered by the display and recognizing the black pony's cutie mark. "That was quite an impressive entrance, darling."

"Thank you," Ash said magnanimously. "You seem to be doing decent work here ladies, but I'm afraid I must take you away from it. Duty, and Twilight, calls."

"Oh, of course," Rarity said, leaping daintily over the hedges and trotting over to Ash. "By all means, take us to her."

"Wait," Fluttershy said. "Just for a second, if you don't mind." She went over to the pile of phoenix ashes just as Philomena rose out of them. "Philomena," Fluttershy asked, "do you think you and the garden animals can handle things on your own?" Philomena let out a low, derisive squawk and gave Fluttershy a mildly insulted look. "I'll leave you to it then," Fluttershy said with confident pride, nuzzled the phoenix, and then finally joined Ash and Rarity.

"Things might get a little smoky," Ash said, "but don't panic. It'll pass quickly and smoothly. I think."

* * *

Locating the Spiriter twins was a matter of finding the signs of their passage. Despite the all-encompassing darkness and shifting tides of battle, the power of Heart and Soul's spirits focused on removing any obstacle standing between them left a mark that stood out to Ash's Noctus-enhanced eyes. The Dark Changelings seemed to sense it too, because when Ash finally found the midpoint of the line between Discord's dome and Heart's point of entry into Canterlot, he found the twins and Pinkie Pie surrounded by dozens of the creatures, and more were visibly growing from the shadows to join the fight. Heart, Soul, and Pinkie were each doing the three pony races proud, holding the tide at bay with whirling Element Wheels, whipcracks of spirit tendrils, and a party cannon. Ash was entranced by how smoothly Pinkie had integrated into the almost dance-like movements of Heart and Soul fighting at their peak of unity, but then the Noctus part of his mind reminded him of their task, and he landed in the midst of them.

"Excuse us," he said apologetically to a random Changeling, grabbing the trio in his magic and teleporting away in a puff of smoke.

They reappeared on the upper viewing platform, ordinarily used by ponies wishing to watch Celestia and Luna exchange their duties at dawn and dusk. The _Lirin_ was now parked there under its protective veil, which Twilight and Luna had adapted and spread over most of the platform to cover the ponies Ash had gathered. The Princesses's original plan to take and hold the Night Tower had been rejected due to space considerations. As soon as he regained his bearings, Soul turned to look at Ash and raised an eyebrow at his friend's altered appearance. "I see you've made a devil's deal," he said dryly. "The straits must be dire indeed."

"It's a temporary arrangement, believe me," Ash answered. He took a quick count of the ponies on the platform, and then faded away with the words, "One element to go."

Heart and Soul exchanged a look, and then the golden-yellow unicorn grinned at everypony else and asked, "So, how's everyone else's day been so far?"

* * *

"Are you sure you're still with us, Rainbow?" Gale asked between shots.

"Would you quit asking me that?" Rainbow Dash asked angrily, kicking a Dark Changeling in the face and barely flinching as it evaporated into shadows. "I've faced Nightmare Moon and Discord twice each, an angry gang of griffons, Tau'rin, Z'Nai-possessed ponies, all sorts of monsters from the Everfree Forest, King Sombra, and the possibility that the Elements of Harmony accidently vaporized Twilight. I can deal with these Changelings popping like balloons."

"I think you've forgotten about getting thrown through the space between universes and turned into a human. Or was that not actually traumatic for you?" Gale, Dash, and several guards looked up smartly to see a black alicorn with ember-laden smoke for a mane and tail and a multi-colored gem torc coming in for a landing among them. Not sure what to make of him, they all trained their weapons on him. "Steady folks," Ash said placatingly. "Don't embarrass yourselves." Gale narrowed her eyes, glancing between Ash's face and the gold-leaf sigil engraved on his torc, and then very slowly gripped the gel launcher trigger in her mouth. "Gale, just don't," Ash said in a hard tone of voice. "I've had a very good time of gathering our scattered forces, and you're the last two. Don't screw this up for me at the last minute."

"Fine," Gale said, releasing the trigger, "but we're going to have words after this is over."

"Did the darkness get to you or something, Ash?" Rainbow Dash asked, eyeing the black pony's wings dubiously.

"Or something," Ash replied. "Proper explanations can wait. Sirs," he said to the guardsponies, "carry on." Without waiting for a response, he vanished, taking Gale and Rainbow with him. The guardsponies looked at the vacated space for a moment, and then back out at the Changelings moving to surround them.

"I always figured he was of the type to take _everypony_ out of situations like this," one of the lower-ranked stallions said.

"Cut the chatter," the seargent snapped, burying his own disappointment beneath years of training and then taking his frustration out on the first Changeling to come within point-blank range of his Gel Launcher.


	18. Chapter 17: Lapillus Penultima

Ash/Noctus, Rainbow Dash, and Gale materialized in the middle of the upper viewing platform and were quickly greeted by the other ponies waiting there for them. Rainbow dismissed all concerns for her well-being with her typical bravado, and the six Element Bearers drew off to the side to discuss strategy. Meanwhile, Heart, Soul, and Gale were looking at the black-coated, smoke-maned alicorn that was supposedly their friend and _de facto_ team leader with a mixture of worry and anger. Gale put her mouth dangerously close to the trigger of her Gel Launcher and said, "If you hadn't pulled me and Dash out of there, I'd suspect you've turned to Thamule again."

"Thamule was a duplicate," Soul and Ash both said at the same time.

"I wasn't talking about that one," Gale clarified. "Actually, I have a stronger suspicion that we're looking at the Nightmare using Ash's body."

"You're partially correct," Princess Luna cut in, giving Ash/Noctus a hard look. "Ashen Blaze and the Nightmare agreed to work as one to gather all of you so we may put an end to the Changeling threat. Although, I am not sure I can fathom what the Nightmare could gain from such an agreement." Her expression turned the last statement into command for Ash to educate her.

"Perspective," Ash said cryptically, and then looked up at the dark barrier hiding the group and the damaged _Lirin_ from Changeling eyes. "We're still not finished, and every second wasted means more damage to life and property out there among ou- your subjects." Luna narrowed her eyes, and Ash ducked his head slightly. "Sorry. A minor slip of the tongue there," he said.

Luna did not appear convinced, but then Twilight came over to inform her and the Order-naries the Elements of Harmony were ready, and so she let the subject go for the moment. Luna and Twilight brought the barrier down until it only covered the _Lirin_, and then Luna walked to the edge of the platform, took a deep breath, and bellowed in the full strength of the Royal Canterlot Voice, "**Chrysalis, Queen of the Changelings! We call you out to settle matters between your subjects and ours, personally! We do not fear your ill-gotten power any longer! Come out!**" A great stillness settled over the whole city of Canterlot in the wake of that shout, as the fighting slowly came to stop. Only the sound a building collapsing somewhere broke the silence for several seconds, and then the buzzing of Changeling wings rose up as dozens of the Darkness-twisted bug-pony-creatures converged on the platform and landed in a large ring around the twelve ponies.

"I don't think the plan is such a good idea anymore," Fluttershy said, trying to hide behind her friends. "Maybe we should just run away and come up with a different plan?"

"Well how rude of you, asking me to come up here and then just leaving." Everypony turned toward the castle side of the platform to see Chrysalis stepping through the ring of Changelings, accompanied by one of the oversized tank-like Changelings. The black stone lodged in her hoof made her gait slightly uneven, but she still carried herself with royal condescension and poise. Fluttershy squeaked and shrank back a bit more, but held her position near the other five Element Bearers.

Ash looked around the tableau, and then nodded with a satisfied smile on his face. "The pieces are positioned," he said in a low, quiet voice. "Mate in four moves or less." The smoke of his mane and tail swirled around him and he vanished from the platform, much to everyone's shock and consternation.

"Hmm," Chrysalis said after glancing around quickly for some sort of trick. "Well then, _Princess_ Luna, you said you wanted to settle matters I believe? Knowing you ponies and your admirable yet annoying tenacity, I assume you aren't going to surrender?"

"No, we are not," Luna said firmly, lowering her horn.

"Good," Chrysalis said. "I intended to take your country by force, and turn your power against you like you did to me." She gestured with a hoof and the Changeling tank charged the group.

"It can throw your spells back at you!" Twilight warned as Luna started casting a spell. The blue alicorn faltered in uncertainty, but Soul Mage started running at the giant himself, horn glowing ethereal blue.

"Let's see how you like _this_ then!" he said, lashing out a tendril that hit the Changeling's head just at the base of the horn. Soul tried to pull the tendril back, but it refused to come out, and he found himself hauled off his hooves as he tried to veer around the chitin-covered bulk and dragged along behind it. The ponies were forced to scatter to avoid being run down, and Gale fired off a Magebane gel just before she leaped out of the way. The beige-yellow gel splattered into both of the Changeling tank's eyes and it ran several more feet before stumbling and crashing to the ground. Soul's spirit tendril finally came free and rapidly withdrew into his horn once he and the Changeling stopped moving, and he lay moaning faintly in pain. Heart and Gale ran over to check on him while Twilight and the rest regrouped, keeping an equal number of eyes on Chrysalis and the unmoving tank.

"How did that happen?" Heart asked, glaring back at Chrysalis. "How'd my brother get hooked like that? No matter how much dark energy you use, you can't just grab a Spiriter's soul with just one Element."

"You mean this?" Chrysalis asked with amusement, raising the leg that the stone was imbedded in. "Did you really think I was using only its power? It's merely supplementing my swarm's natural abilities. We Changelings are very good at adapting. Although it seems I can't quite ignore your weapons yet," she added, looking at Gale.

"Enough talk," Twilight said. "Let's hit it, girls." The Elements of Harmony began to glow, and a beam of light shot out from each necklace to gather at the gem in Twilight's tiara. Chrysalis sneered and tried to interrupt them with a dark bolt from her Gem, but Celestia blocked the attack with a conjured shield and a smug shake of her head. Once fully charged, the Elements of Harmony released their power in a spherical wave of rainbow light that washed over the recoiling Changeling Queen effortlessly and brushed all the darkness out of Canterlot. In its wake, the Changelings surrounding the platform either vanished or keeled over, and Chrysalis herself had fallen to her knees, her eyes and carapace returned to their normal coloration. Panting heavily, Chrysalis looked around the platform in horror, but then looked herself over and smiled dangerously.

"That's it?" she asked with a laugh. "_That's_ the fabled power of the Elements of Harmony? What a joke." With that, she stood up and held out her left front leg, showing that the Gem of Darkness was still wedged into one of the holes. The Gem glowed purple-black and darkness spread across the platform again, reviving the Changelings as it touched them.

"Twilight?" Gale asked nervously, looking to the lavender alicorn even as she aimed her Gel Launcher at Chrysalis.

Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy all looked worried as well, but Twilight remained calm, her eyes cool and calculating. "I guess we need a direct approach," she said. "Are you still with me?" she asked, looking at each of her friends in turn. Inspired by her confidence, they each nodded and their necklaces started to glow again. This time, the lights from the six Elements came together into a rainbow beam that arced toward Chrysalis. Smirking, Chrysalis unleashed a magic beam of her own – sickly green and purple-black light twisting together and meeting the rainbow halfway. Gale mouthed the trigger of her launcher anxiously as the conflicting beams pushed back and forth, but eventually the Elements of Harmony won out, the beam dividing into its component colors to wrap around Chrysalis's magic and consume it. The six beams then reached Chrysalis herself and bound her horn, wings, and legs, forcibly extending the left-front leg out in front of her. "Go, Gale!" Twilight shouted. "Shut it down."

"Oh, gladly," Gale said, aiming at the Gem with an evil-looking grin. She pulled the trigger and the launcher coughed out a blast of air, but no gel went flying through the air. Gale gave the reloading mechanism a kick and cocked an ear, frowning at what she heard. "Grr, I must have miscounted somehow… I'm out of ammo!"

"Leave it to me then," Heart shouted, leaping from her brother's side into a fast glide that ended with a buck to Chrysalis's nose. "That's for Soul," she said, and then gripped the Gem of Darkness between her front hooves and pulled, bracing against the Changeling Queen's outstretched leg. Dark magic energy lashed at her legs, face, and belly, but she refused to relent until, with screams from both her and Chrysalis, the Gem came loose and Heart tumbled backward to the ground. "Alright now, stop!" she growled commandingly, and the Gem obliged by ceasing to glow. One or two of the Changelings that remained on the platform evaporated with the overhanging shadows and the remainder keeled over again. Chrysalis let out a mournful buzz and went limp, held up only by the restraints created by the Elements of Harmony.

Twilight ended the spell, letting Chrysalis drop, and heaved a weary sigh. "It's over," she said grimly. "Is she… Are the Changelings dead?"

Celestia cast a spell that swept over the whole platform, and then shook her head. "They all live, but just barely," she said.

A weak, angry buzz from Chrysalis confirmed the alicorn's words, and Celestia, Luna, Twilight, and Gale gathered around to hear her speak. "You've as good as killed us," she said in a raspy voice. "I can barely hear just a small number of my Changelings. The rest, hundreds of my children, you've killed. I hope you're happy."

"You brought it on yourself," Gale said. "Fighting with no quarter given; and most of your army was so completely overcome by the element of Darkness that they became mere extensions of it. You're lucky there are any survivors." Chrysalis's eye glittered with rage, but then went dull and rolled back into her head before she could unleash it.

"Aw, I missed the final climatic moment," a disappointed voice said from the entrance to the platform. Everypony turned to see Ashen Blaze, back to his normal grey-coated, red-and-orange-maned, non-winged unicorn self walking over to them. A large sealed flask containing a moving shadow speckled with starlight floated in a bubble of his magic near his right shoulder.

"Ash!" Rarity exclaimed, galloping over to grab him in a tight hug. She then began to shake him mercilessly, ranting, "You had me scared half to death, you terrible colt! Forming a pact with the Nightmare and not bothering to tell me; I had to find out from Twilight! Although I really should've guessed when you showed up looking that way… But never mind that! How dare you go and leave us right before the fighting started?! We could have used you! At least you're back to normal, right? Don't scare me like that ever again!" She hugged him again, sniffling.

"S-sorry, Rarity," Ash said awkwardly. "But from the looks of things, you didn't really need…" he trailed off as he saw Soul Mage, all scraped up and bruised from being dragged across the platform and giving the ash-grey unicorn a glare that promised intense pain. Ash sighed and brought the flask forward. "Look," he said, "I had to hold Noctus to her word that she'd go back to living in a flask once the Elements of Harmony were reunited and ready to fight Chrysalis. I trusted you all could handle things without me for a little while, and it was obviously well-placed. Now quit giving me that look, Soul. You know how I am with mind control."

Soul snorted. "Sorry, but I'm not so willing to trust your indomitable will in this world, after what Discord did to you."

Ash let his eyes and ears fall. "Eh, point," he allowed, cowed.

"Lack of common sense and courtesy aside," Princess Celestia said with faint amusement, "I say you've performed admirably today Ash. You overcame setbacks to bring the scattered Elements together, and recaptured the Nightmare as well."

"Yeah, good job with not turning evil again," Rainbow Dash said.

"Thanks," Ash said dryly, finally extracting himself gently from Rarity's embrace. "So, now what? Where exactly do we stand now?"

"We're on the upper viewing platform of Canterlot Castle, silly," Pinkie Pie said with a giggle. Everyone except the Princesses and Fluttershy gave her a flat look. Unfazed, Pinkie chattered on, making a more serious list. "We stopped the Changeling invasion, saved the city, and took the Chaotic Gem of Creepy Dark Nastiness away from Chrysalis. That means we need to do something about the surviving Changelings, maybe help clean up Canterlot a little, somepony should probably check on Discord, and we need figure out where the Bipersonality Team went so we can give them the Gem."

"Yes," Celestia said slowly, "thank you for reminding me about Discord, Pinkie." She trotted to the edge of the platform and spread her wings for take-off. Before she could take to the air, however, a pegasus of the Royal Guard ran out from the castle and threw a quick salute, breathing heavily.

"Your pardon, you Highnesses," he said. "We've started securing the castle, and found the communication mirror from the Crystal Empire has been active for some time. I think it may be urgent."

"Go see to Discord, sister," Luna said to Celestia. "I will see to this matter." Celestia nodded and flew off toward the commercial district while Luna followed the guard inside.

"Hey guys," Heart said, holding out the Gem, "are we absolutely sure this _is_ the Gem of Darkness? It's not an amethyst. It's… I'm not even sure what it is to be honest."

"Let me see it," Rarity said. Heart tossed the black stone over and Rarity scrutinized it closely. "I do believe this may be an opal," she said at last, "although I've never seen one so… uncolorful. I dare say its magic is to blame."

"If it isn't the Dark Gem, it's a darn good replica," Ash said. "The only element it's focusing is Darkness, and that to a degree equal to other Gems we've seen since the Bipersonality Team showed up. I guess their set isn't quite parallel to Tau'rin's after all."

More Royal Guards started to emerge from the castle groups of three or four and went about tying up Queen Chrysalis and the remaining Changelings and carrying them away, presumably to the dungeons or a secured infirmary. Princess Celestia returned with Discord floating lazily behind her licking an ice cream cone that happened to be colored the exact same way as Celestia's mane. The Element Bearers and Order-naries finally started to relax, until Ash remembered his ship and started fretting again. Twilight obligingly removed the cloaking shield at his insistence, and then Applejack joined the two of them in doing a double-take. The _Lirin_ looked pristine, its hull completely free of any holes, dents, or even minor scratches.

"How'd the…" Ash said, dumbfounded, and then gave the command to open in a cautiously experimental tone. The hatch opened and flipped down smoothly and Ash raced inside, followed closely by Twilight and the other Order-naries. "PC, status report," Ash said, looking around indecisively.

"_Welcome back, sirrah_," the computer droned in its usual quasi-sarcastic monotone. "_I am pleased to report that all ship systems and essential parts are, at the minimum, 110% of the last established requirements for optimal status. All the original parts are as if fresh from the assembly lot, and the various replacements and upgrades by Maesi, Gale, and… others are likewise in superior condition._"

"How?!" Ash exclaimed. "It was on the verge of the scrapheap a minute ago, thanks to the Changelings!"

"I think this may be my doing," Twilight said slowly. "Or the Elements of Harmony, rather. It took me two tries to find the right way to stop her and the Dark Gem. The first try was a spell meant to restore everything in range to the way it was meant to be. I was counting on the Gem having a more profound effect on Chrysalis's nature than it actually did."

"Changelings are adaptive," Heart said dryly.

"And the Elements of Harmony are mind-blowingly impressive," Gale said appreciatively. "Except, with the amount of magic these kind of repairs would need…" She ran into the cargo area and started rifling through compartments. "Argh, I knew it," she called out sourly after a moment. "The spell overwhelmed the insulation. There's not a speck of usable Magebane left in here."

"Oh," Twilight said, cringing. "Sorry Gale."

"Don't worry about it Twi," Gale said as she came back to the group. "Most of my stockpile's back home, and I can always make more."

"Ah, but whatever shall you do in the meantime?" Ash asked playfully.

"You, shut up," Gale snapped, hiding a smile.

"Twilight Sparkle!" Luna's voice drifted in from outside. "Ash, everypony, I have news of the Bipersonality Team."

"Well that's convenient," Soul drawled as he and the others exited the ship. "Let me guess: they're in the Crystal Empire, wherever that is."

"Correct," Luna said. "Princess Cadance informed me they arrived a few hours ago and made a poor attempt to pass themselves off as you, Ash, and Gale. After getting an apology for that, Cadance gave them a Chaotic Gem that was found near the Empire, and at this very moment they're locked in mortal combat with their enemy, Vanatos."

"Wha- Already?" Heart asked. "They should be short two Gems though: this one and either the Aether or Fire Gem."

"I'm willing to bet the dread Vanatos has the last Gem," Ash said. "After all, he's handed out two or three of them to others already."

"How do you figure three?" Twilight asked. "We only know about him giving the Topaz to Discord and the Opal to Chrysalis."

"And do you really think Trixie's insane stalker just happened to find the Emerald and figured out how to make a giant golem with it by himself?" Ash asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Now that you mention it, no," Twilight said.

"I think we should probably get a move on, guys," Heart said, tilting her head toward the _Lirin_. "I'd rather we don't have to see _another_ major city, empire, whatever, get half-demolished by fighting."

"Cadance assured me that Vanatos is incapable of passing through the Crystal Empire's perimeter wards," Luna said. "Nevertheless, I agree that you make haste. There's a good chance the Bipersonality Team may be tiring from prolonged battle."

"Right," Ash said seriously. "Point the way, and the _Lirin_ will get us there. Unless teleporting's an option," he added, looking to Twilight.

"That's too far even with the Elements," Twilight said, shaking her head. "Just follow the main rail line to the north. You can't miss it."


End file.
